Echoes of Yesterday
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: Welcome to a new world, a world where the line between hero and villain is thin and unknown. A world unknowingly besieged by a force far greater than imagination, where hope has died. In these trying times, new heroes will rise, old villains will fall, and the world will change, for better and worse.
1. Chapter 1

**Arrival 1.1**

Who am I?

That's what I first woke up to. My thoughts were a haze of half-ideas and ill fitting memories that made less sense the more I tried to focus on them. Flashes of fire, of cities attacked, gunfire, all blurred together. All they served to do was confuse me more; I tried to shove them aside and focus on one. Who was I? And why I was I waking up in a dumpster in the back alley of a Mickey D's?

Despite how blurred my mind was, the pungent smell of cheap burgers and not-quite-real fries was all too familiar and was the first memory connection I was able to decipher. Fast food was familiar; and I decided, very gross. I started pulling myself out of the trash, and felt old ketchup packets explode under my shifting weight, accompanied by a lovely squelching I had pulled myself mostly free, I was able to see what I was wearing.

First, I was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt covered in grease and soda stains that came up to my neck. There was a red skirt that came down to me knees, similarly stained and held in place by a gold belt, the only part of my outfit untouched. On my feet I wore a pair of red boots with thick soles.

Most importantly though, was the symbol on my chest. A crest in the shape of a diamond, with a stylized S resting in the center of it. Wait, no, that wasn't quite right. It looked like an S, but I knew better. Yes, more memories were returning to me now: I proudly wore the Crest of El, a symbol of hope on my homeworld Krypton.

Yes, yes!

I was a Kryptonian, Kara Zor-El! And I was… I was…

Memories of helplessness returned. Trapped in a rocket, sent away from the only home I knew, watching as it fell apart before my very eyes. I had been sent to a new home, Earth, to protect my cousin Kal-El, who was only a baby at the time. We were the only known Kryptonians left in the galaxy, the only survivors of a planet wide apocalypse.

To make matters worse, I hadn't even arrived on Earth in time. My ship had been lost in a rift, trapped for nearly thirty years. By the time I had actually made it to the little blue planet, my cousin had grown from a tiny baby into the champion of Earth: Superman. Defender of Truth, Justice, and Liberty, at least that's what the people of Earth liked to say. He had a lot of nicknames. I had one too, the most obvious one floating to the surface in an instant. Supergirl.

"Okay, good." I said to myself. "You know who you are. You know where you are… kind of. Now the question is, why?"

Obviously I wouldn't find any answers in this dumpster, so I started pulling myself out, only for my arm to buckle. I fell head over heels and landed face first on the asphalt, and didn't move, marinating in the humiliating pain. That was when I realized something was wrong.

My species, when exposed to Earth's environment, developed extraordinary powers and abilities, given time and exposure. Strength to shatter walls, speed to outrun planes, and iron skin to protect us from any threat. And while I wasn't bleeding, that I felt anything besides a minor ache, told me that my powers were completely unbalanced. I reached for the nearby dumpster, and slowly pulled myself up and held firm until my feet were under me and I felt certain I wasn't going to collapse again. Okay, first things first, I had to get a sense of where I was. An alley behind a fast food restaurant, probably in one of Earth's cities, if the constant sound was any indication. The sheer volume and breadth of it confirmed that my senses, though limited from their usual power, were still sufficiently 'super'. Yet, all of this told me about nothing about where I was. There were dozens cities in the US alone that could match this description.

If I was to figure out what happened, I'd need to contact the Justice League of America, or JLA, and get a briefing from whoever was in charge. I reached for my right ear, and found that the small bud shaped communicator was gone. Great, more questions with no answers to them. Thankfully, I wasn't without a spare. Past experience had told me to always prepare redundancies. In my line of work, you never knew what might go wrong.

The belt I wore wasn't just a fashion accessory; inside the belt buckle, was a small palm sized phone, based on the smart phones citizens used, but with far better hardware. I reached for it now, and was relieved to find it was still locked securely in place. I pressed the hidden latches on other side of the buckle, and the phone released into my hand.

I flicked it on. The screen lit up and I pressed the emergency call button. 'WATCHTOWER SIGNAL LOST' it immediately reported in response. It took an effort not to crush the phone in frustration; this wasn't the first time I had lost signal with the Watchtower, I just needed a boost. I set the phone to scan for wifi, and once it had connected, a new warning flashed on screen.

'UNKNOWN SOFTWARE DETECTED: INITIATE COMPATIBILITY MODE? YES/NO?'

Not good. Really not good. The implications of unfamiliar software in a location that seemed very familiar to me was unsettling and put me on edge. I clicked yes, and waited. After a minute, the phone chirped, and I was able to connect to the internet. First things first, I singled out my location. According to the responses I got, I was somewhere in the north eastern United States, in a small city called Brockton Bay. Good so far. But that nagging suspicion was still at the back of my head.

Instead of trying to call anyone, I started searching for any information I could on the Justice League instead. What I found was a handful of very sparse wiki pages covering Justice League from a now defunct company called DC. I closed my eyes and crushed the edge of the dumpster with ease. Oh good, my strength wasn't completely gone.

But, this wasn't good. I kept flipping through the internet, and my suspicions were confirmed. I was in the United States, but I wasn't on Earth. Specifically, I wasn't on my Earth. I was no stranger to the multiverse, and it looked like someone or something had dragged me into another alternate Earth. One where the all the people I knew and cared about were just fictional characters. Those universes were always so much fun.

Surprisingly though, even if the heroes of my Earth didn't exist, this was not a 'normal' Earth. It too had its own many heroes, had had many since the 1980's in fact. Their numbers grew every year, but as I read, I saw that this was hardly a good thing. Villains were multiplying far faster than heroes, as a result of something called a Trigger Event. People put through traumatic events would develop superpowers, essentially. Meaning that anyone with powers typically wasn't the most stable individual.

I thought to some of the more colorful members of the Justice League, and even my own past. Perhaps there was more in common with this universe than I first thought.

Regardless, what I read did not paint a positive picture for the people of Alt. Earth. Monster attacks were yearly, and so far none of these 'Endbringers' had been taken down. At best, they could be repelled, which still left huge devastation in their wake. The result was a world that many believed was teetering on the edge of destruction. I didn't blame them.

My first impulse, the very first thought to pop into my head when I read all this, was that I could fix this. I, Supergirl, would swoop in and save the day like I always did back on my Earth. But thankfully, rationality and past experience won out. Even at my strongest, with the backing of the JLA and a dozen other superhero teams, I couldn't solve all the problems there. It was going to take a lot to even make a dent on this Earth.

I smiled at that thought. In spite of my amnesia, my weakened powers, and my recent arrival, my mind was made up. I would do all that I could to help this Alternate Earth; if I simply sat on my laurels and waited for Kal and his team to find me, I would never live with myself if I had done so.

That said, I would need to take this slow. It would take a few days at least for my powers to start filling in again. Before I had arrived on Earth, I'd been blasted with the equivalent of thirty years of sunlight exposure when I landed. Thus, my power had been near equal to Kal's when I arrived, even though physically I hadn't aged. Now, with my powers seemingly on full reset, it would take some time before I could really push myself.

In order to help these people as soon as possible, I would need to wait for a few days before trying to take to the streets. I frowned at that, but knew there wasn't a lot else I could do except lay down and soak in the rays. A glance down at myself again made me rethink that. I'd have to find a way to clean myself first, then I could start biding my time.

I'd like to say that I did exactly that. That I found a nice lake or stream to clean myself in and then was able to sit around soaking up rays for days until I could get to work. It would be very nice to have kept my impulses under control, but alas, reality is often disappointing.

No sooner had I started out of the alley, did I hear a distinct bang. Let me clarify, I heard many noises with my super-hearing. At its peak, it was possible for me to hear and process every sound on the planet, with time to concentrate of course. I had a very limited version of that at the moment, maybe a few blocks or miles at most, I wasn't sure. Even my ability to process information, I could tell was far slower than what I was used to.

Yet this little bang, for whatever reason, snapped me straight to attention. My head swiveled in its direction, and I waited for a follow up. There was always a chance that it had someone had just backed their car into a mailbox or something- I heard it again, louder, repetitive, and panicked; and I could hear someone screaming.

"Hello!? Anyone!? For the love of god, please let me out of here! This isn't funny! Help me! Please!? Help!"

So much for patience.

The pedestrians parted before me as I sprinted down the sidewalk, far faster than any human could. My speed had dropped significantly, but that still put me nearly as fast as a speeding bullet. I didn't bother waiting at crosswalks, I simply leaped over them in a single bound, and at at my pace, it took only a minute or two to reach my destination.

To my surprise and sullen disappointment, I found myself at a high school. Winslow High, and it wasn't in great shape. It was a squat square three story building, with an open field behind it where kids could be seen streaming out for their physical education. The walls and windows were dirty, and the streets around it were ill repaired. The screaming was coming from in there, and it was only getting worse.

I burst through the front doors, drawing the attention of several hundred sets of eyes. I didn't exactly look the most impressive, and very few if any of these kids would know anything about me or my cousin. I probably looked like a half crazed cape that had wandered in off the street, which… wasn't far off the mark, admittedly.

There wasn't any time to waste, I could hear that girl breaking into tears, screaming so hard her vocal chords sounded about ready to burst. I rushed forward, the students parting as the pedestrians on the sidewalk had. I'm fairly sure both cases were as a result of the lingering smell that I was only now starting to notice. I put it behind me and came skidding down a hall and found a cluster of students gathered around a locker that was shaking violently.

That was the source.

I won't lie, my blood boiled at the sight. They could obviously hear her begging for someone, anyone to help, and all they did was either watch or ignore her. Several had already broken off with bored looks on their faces. I shoved through a trio of girls a little harder than necessary, and ran up to the locker.

"Miss? Can you hear me?" I called. The students behind me began murmuring, most of what they said was less than polite.

The screaming stopped and a raw voice said, "P-please, get me out of here!"

I ran a finger along the lockers edge, debating if I should rip it off its hinges and fling it at the kids behind me to give them a taste of helplessness. I shoved the nasty thought aside and instead said, "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."

My fingers wrapped around the padlock, and I pulled it off as easily as clay. The locker burst open, and the girl collapsed into my arms, violently shaking. She was covered in used tampons and pads and other disgusting items I couldn't identify. So this wasn't spur of the moment, it was planned.

I buried my anger, and turned to the assembled students, keeping one protective arm around the girl, "Where's the nurse's office?" I demanded.

The response I got, was, "Who the fuck are you?"

This came from one of the trio, a short slender girl with dark skin and brown eyes. She wore a track and field uniform, and her look told me all I needed to know. I was in no mood to play nice.

I grabbed the girl by the shirt and lifted her into the air with one hand. There were a few shouts of surprise, and the other two girls hastily backed away, wide eyed. It was weak, but I felt that familiar heat building at the base of my eyes, and I had a good idea of what this girl was seeing.

"Nurse's office. Where is it?"

* * *

According to the school nurse, a kindly older woman in her mid-50's, Taylor (that was the girl's name), was physically fine. As the minutes ticked by, she seemed to slowly come back to life, though there was a distant expression in her eyes. Whenever she thought I wasn't looking, she'd steal a glance at me then look away when I turned my attention to her. While the nurse had checked up on her, I'd used some of the clean wipes to get the worst of the stains out of my costume, but it didn't do much for the stench.

At the tail end of her examination, a narrow woman dressed in very dark business attire and with a severe blonde bowl haircut, came in with a few staff tailing her, and starting basically interrogating her. Taylor responded with quiet 'no', 'I don't know', and 'it wouldn't matter' to each question until the woman, revealed to be the Principal of this highschool, grew visibly annoyed.

"Miss Hebert, if we are to punish those responsible for such an act, we require your active assistance to bring the persecutors to justice."

"It doesn't matter. You haven't done anything about them yet." Taylor said mumbling that last bit under her breath.

The principals face turned a unique shade of red, and that's when I put myself in between them, "Ma'am, clearly Miss Hebert needs time to gather her thoughts. What she went through would have been very traumatic, and interrogating her certainly won't help with that."

The woman looked me up and down and I again cursed my appearance. "What would bring a cape here in the first place? While what happened was certainly unacceptable, it wouldn't require the assistance of a powered individual."

"Firstly," I started, "I have enhanced senses. I could hear her screaming for help three blocks away. And secondly, ma'am, it appears I was needed, because no one was bothering to help her, even the staff."

That definitely struck a nerve. The woman bristled and loomed, which would've been a little more intimidating if she didn't have to look up at me. I'd grown several inches since I'd arrived on Earth, I had to be pushing six feet by that time.

The principal seemed to reign in her emotions, and turned to the nurse, "How is she?"

"Physically fine, as far as I can tell, Principal Blackwell" the nurse replied, "But I recommend the rest of the day off, to give her time to collect herself."

Blackwell seemed to mull that over for a moment and then nodded, "Very well. I want you in my office before first period on tomorrow morning, Miss Hebert."

With that, she left. The moment the nurse was sure she was gone, she said, "I can't stand that prissy bitch."

I snorted and covered my mouth. Taylor's lips twitched, but that was it. The nurse started packing her medical equipment away, "Now, we already called your father Taylor, he'll be here to pick you up in half an hour or so."

"I can walk." Taylor replied.

The nurse frowned, but I interjected, "Good idea. Get some nice fresh air, out from the indoors. That'll be great for settling your nerves."

An idea sprang into my head and I added, "Tell you what, I'll tag along with you, just to be safe."

"I can walk fine by myself." Taylor said, not meeting my eyes.

"Taylor has a point. Your help was appreciated, but I doubt a full cape escort is necessary, um…" the nurse paused and looked at me, drawing her lips together. "Actually, pardon me, but have I seen you somewhere before? What's your name?"

I put my hands on my hips, and tried not to smile too broadly, "Just call me Supergirl ma'am."

That actually made the nurse laugh, "Hah! I thought I recognized the costume. My, I am really feeling my age, if the kids these days are taking inspiration from old comic books."

I made an effort not to let my eye twitch with irritation and said through clenched teeth, "Well, what can I say? I have an appreciation for the classics."

Arms falling to my side, I sighed and said, "Look, something like that isn't a spur of the moment thing. Someone put a lot of time and effort into that 'prank'. They aren't going to be happy I interrupted it, and someone that determined won't just let their target get away unmarked. I can give you a safe escort home, and then you don't have to worry about ever seeing me again if you don't want to."

Some might say I had made a few leaps in logic there, but honestly, unless the perpetrators had gone to every girl in the school and asked for their used maxi-pads and tampons, odds were good they had personally saved most of them for this prank. I was no Batman, but basic skills of deduction weren't beyond me.

The nurse seemed unsure of this, and turned to Taylor, "The decision is ultimately up to you-"

"Yes. Fine. Lets just go please." Taylor said, suddenly standing.

* * *

After picking up her school supplies, I followed Taylor out the school to the nearest bus stop. No one tailed us the whole time, but I didn't entirely trust my senses yet. Noises were still flooding in at uneven intervals, and it was only my experience with them that kept my sense of self in check. So I kept an eye open for anyone exceptionally petty while we waited at the bus stop.

The early morning was starting to finally fade, and fresh sunlight poured over the both of us. I couldn't help but tip my head up to it and soak in the rays, feeling my strength slowly, ever so slowly, pooling within me. I could have stood there all day like that, until Taylor coughed into her hand.

I turned to her, brow raised. She looked down at her feet. "Why'd you help me? Aside from the whole 'capes have to help everyone' shtick."

Ah, I was wondering when that question would pop up. I'd heard it before, though for different reasons back home. My family's reputation painted us as larger than life to many of the humans of Earth, some had a hard time understanding why we'd even bother trying to help them.

"Like I said, I heard you from several blocks away. You sounded scared, terrified even. How could I not?"

Taylor frowned, "Pity then?"

I shook my head, "No, not pity. I just… wanted to. With or without powers, I would have done everything I could to help you. It's a small world we live in, there isn't room in it for hatred and suffering. "

That earned me a stare from, probably the first time she really looked at me. From the expression on her face, she seemed to be trying to figure out what my angle was, which wasn't surprising. Thankfully, for both our sakes, the bus arrived at that moment.

I didn't just keep a spare communicator in my utility belt. It was divided into compartments, each holding something I might need in case of emergency. So while it wasn't exactly the same as the alternate earth currency, the emergency cash I had on me was close enough that the bus driver wasn't able to tell the difference, though he did grumble about having to accept paper currency. Apparently coinage had become more popular with the rise of parahumans. I made a mental note to memorize the man's face and name tag so I could properly pay him back when I was able.

We sat near the back of the bus and the ride began in silence. I could tell that Taylor wasn't thrilled to have me along, I knew how she felt. My first year on Earth had left me feeling alone and unwanted; human high schools hadn't helped. All I had wanted for the longest time was to be left alone. If Taylor felt the same, then I would keep to myself and wouldn't bother her. If she wanted to talk, I'd be all ears.

It was about three or four minutes into the route, Taylor spoke up. "I… thank you, Supergirl. I didn't say that and I should've. Thank you, for saving me."

I tried not to smile. "You're welcome, Taylor. I'm glad I could help."

There were questions I had of course. Who was behind the prank, why were they after Taylor specifically, and how long? But again, I wouldn't pry.

Taylor fidgeted with her backpack, and looked away from me again, half muttering something. I turned to her with a half-smile, "What was that?"

"I said… what're your classifications?"

It took a moment for me to understand what she meant. Metahumans in Alt. Earth were classified by twelve different categories to try and get a handle on all the powers people were developing. In turn, an individual's level of skill and versatility with said power was rated on a scale of 1-10 to best put together an appropriate response should they ever go villain. It would seem, that Taylor had let down a wall and her curiosity was showing. I could see a gleam in her eye, a bit of actual emotion, buried under that mountain of despair and loneliness.

I leaned back in my seat, "That's a hard one. I haven't thought much about it, but… well, its an extensive list."

That got her attention, "How extensive?"

"Hmm," I said, and started counting on my fingers, "Well, lets see: Super-strength, super-speed, enhanced senses including microscoping, telescopic, electromagnetic, x-ray, infrared, and heat vision. I can fly, am invulnerable to most forms of damage, can process things far faster than any human thanks to my super-speed, can regulate my internal body temperature and raise it in excess of 2700 degrees fahrenheit, use super breath to create hurricane force winds or ice, and these all grow stronger the longer I am in sunlight. I draw my strength from the sun you see. Oh, and I can modulate the pitch and frequency of my voice to sound like anyone or speak at frequencies the human ear can't hear."

Taylor was gawking now. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide. I didn't even try to hide my smile. I had her full attention, and her mind, for the moment, was off of the incident.

"You're making some of those up." she accused after she came back to her senses.

"Am I?" I asked, in a perfect imitation of her voice.

Taylor visibly cringed, "Please don't do that again."

"Sorry."

I leaned back in my seat while Taylor processed all this, questions forming in her mind. "If you have all these powers… why aren't you out running around with the Protectorate or something?"

That was the last question I wanted to answer honestly. I don't think Taylor would have been able to accept it if I admitted I was from another universe. Odds were good she'd think I was insane, which wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption to make. I'd need a cover story to tell people instead, which meant I'd have to lie. I could handle that, a little white lie. How hard could that be?

"My um… abilities are kinda new. It took me a… while to learn them and I think I… exhausted, yeah, exhausted myself in the process. Everything has been… reset. I'm down to the basics, and it could take weeks or longer before I'm at full power."

Taylor's face was surprisingly blank as she processed this. She leaned back in her seat and processed it. I inwardly winced, and looked out the window. I didn't know what else to say, I felt anything I might say could just make things worse.

"Are you in Brockton Bay by choice?" she suddenly asked.

That actually caught me off guard. "I...um, no. I just kind of… drifted into town. Crashed into a dumpster along the way, to add insult to injury."

That seemed to settle something for Taylor, and the rest of the route was driven in silence. We finally reached her stop a few minutes later, in a suburb that wasn't in the greatest or worst of conditions. Probably the lower end of middle class if I had to guess. I followed Taylor to what I assumed was her house. With each step, she seemed to shrink back in on herself, returning to that quiet withdrawn personality she had hidden inside of in the nurse's office.

I saw why when we reached her home. A car was pulled into the driveway, and a man was just stepping out of it. He was a tall, thin man, with large green eyes hidden behind a set of glasses. His dark hair was starting to thin and he had a weak chin. When he saw us approaching, his eyes practically ignited with concern.

I don't think I expected to see a man that lanky move so quickly around his car. I had practically blinked and he was embracing Taylor. I couldn't get a read on her face, it was a mixture of relief and anxiety, if I had to guess.

"Oh my god, Taylor. As soon as I got the call I… Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay dad, really… Shaken, but okay."

Her father ended the embrace but didn't let go of her, his face taking on a very serious expression, "Do you know who did it? Who went after you?"

"Dad… please, it's not important?"

"Not important?" The man started, his voice rising. At that moment he seemed to finally notice me and paused.

"Um, sorry, I didn't see you there."

I shrugged, "Its okay, I didn't want to interrupt."

Taylor extricated herself from her father's gift and gestured at me, "Dad, this is the cape that saved me. Supergirl, this is my dad, Daniel Hebert."

He offered me his hand, "Danny, please."

I shook his hand, careful not to squeeze to hard. "Ah, quite the grip there, Supergirl…"

His eyes glazed with thought for a moment, as he thought on the name, "Isn't that the name of a character from an old comic book?"

I suppressed my urge to twitch again and smiled, "So I've been told. It's a pleasure to meet you, Danny."

"The pleasure is all mine, really. You saved my daughter, I can't put into words how much that means to me. I'm in your debt ma'am."

"It was nothing." I told him, honestly. Even if Taylor wasn't in danger of death, she had certainly been in a situation that could have left her psychologically damaged, or worse. I had told Taylor the truth earlier, saving people came naturally to me. If someone was in danger, I would be there to help them, reward or no.

He clasped my hand tightly with both of his, "It's not, really. If you ever need anything, anything at all, just say the word."

I opened my mouth to protest, when Taylor spoke up, "Actually dad, there is one thing she needs. Besides a shower."

Danny looked at his daughter with a quizzical expression, and so did I. What was she getting at?

"She's new in town. She's not with the Protectorate, and she needs a place to stay."

Her father looked back to me, understanding and sympathy on his face. I made sure not to wince, I really didn't want to impose myself on anyone. Truthfully, I was surprised that Taylor wanted me to stick around, but then again… maybe she liked the idea of having a cape living under her roof. A personal bodyguard of sort. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"Is this true?" Danny asked.

I opened my mouth and the lie I was working on died. I closed it and looked aside, feeling a faint blush, "Yes."

Danny ushered me forward, "Then I insist that you come inside. It's not much, but we have room for one more. You're welcome here until you're back on your feet. If you're interested, I might even have some work that could help you get started."

I let him usher me forward, and I had an odd feeling as he did. One way or another, I knew then and there that I was going to be seeing a lot more of the Heberts, and that my next few weeks on Alt Earth were going to be very interesting.

* * *

**A/N: Expect a new chapter every Friday before Midnight Pacific Standard time. Hope y'all enjoyed, review and let me know what you thought, until next Friday, ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Arrival 1.2**

I really didn't want to have this talk with dad. For a year and a half I'd kept what was happening at high school a secret from him. He had had enough to deal with after… everything, with mom. The last thing I had wanted was to put even more on his plate, or to make this whole situation blow up. Now that he knew something was going on, that was definitely what was going to happen.

To make matters even more uncomfortable, dad offered the shower to Supergirl. After he had thrown her stained and smelly suit in the wash and I left out some of my old oversized clothes out for her, we both sat at the kitchen table in silence. I could tell by the tension in his shoulders and the way he was pressing his hands against the tabletop that he was struggling to keep his temper under control. I'd only seen dad lose his temper once in my lifetime, when I was at his office at the docks and someone had screwed over the people he was trying to help. But my god, when he did lose his temper, it was a sight I never wanted to be on the receiving end of.

Dad took a deep breath, and it came out shaky, "Taylor, why didn't you tell me something was going on sooner?"

"It's high school dad. It's not like I'm the only one who gets bullied." I said, quietly. That was true, but not the whole truth. I was the center of the Trio's campaign of terror and they'd gotten most of the school in on it. But dad didn't need to know that.

He sighed and ran a hand through his thin hair, "That doesn't justify it Taylor. And this… prank. What if Supergirl hadn't found you? How long would you have been trapped in there? What if that blood was… infected? Hepatitis? HIV? The biohazard dangers alone are… This isn't spur of the moment, Taylor."

"Everyone keeps saying that." I muttered, like I didn't already know.

There was a moment where dad hesitated, but he got over it and spoke up, "Taylor, how long has this been going on for? Whoever is doing this, how long have they been doing it?"

I didn't meet his eyes, I couldn't meet his eyes. I stared at the table as I spoke, "Like I said, it's just high school. It brings out the worst in everyone, even Em-." I stopped myself and looked up, hoping dad hadn't caught my slipup.

His jaw was tight, his eyes wide, "Emma. Emma was the one doing this to you? 'Stay over every other night' Emma?"

My throat was dry and I struggled to swallow, "N-no I… She's just… part of the Trio."

Dad took in a deep, long breathe, holding it in. His eyes were narrowed to slits and he was grabbing at the table. "Alan, you son of a bitch." he hissed under his breath.

"Dad, please-" I started.

It was too late.

Dad shot up from his chair, sending it loudly clattering to the floor, "I trusted him, that son of a bitch!"

I shrank in my chair, and resisted the urge to cover my head. I should've just kept my stupid mouth shut. Dad was moving to the door, "When I'm done with him, I'm going to, to!"

"Mr. Hebert."

Supergirls voice was loud, firm and commanded authority. Dad froze, and we both turned to her. She was standing in the kitchen, hair wet and stringy and wearing a large black shirt and jeans. Her face wasn't angry, but it was very firm and no nonsense, similar but less intimidating than the one she used on Sophia.

"Mr. Hebert," Supergirl repeated, her voice softer. "I know this is a stressful time for you, and what was done to your daughter was unforgivable. No one is arguing that. However, the last thing that will help anyone, is you getting into a screaming match with the perpetrators parents. So please, take a moment to calm down, okay?"

To my surprise, her words seemed to have an effect on dad. He didn't calm all the way, but the fire of his anger seemed to have dulled. It was still there, but it lacked the drive that had been pushing him forward. He slumped against the front door, resting his hands on his thighs. "R-right. I'm sorry, Taylor, I just…"

He couldn't met my eyes, but the shame was clear on his face. His jaw went tight and stood up straight again. "I'm going to the school. I'm going to see if we can get anything done about this. At the very least, I'm getting Taylor time away from there."

Finally, he looked at me. "Taylor, I… I'm sorry."

Then he opened the door and left, closing it with extra care. I heard his car rumble to life and roll out the driveway a moment later. I looked back at Supergirl, who was picking his chair back up and sliding it under the table. "Thank you, again." I said to her.

She smile that perfect smile at me. "I've been where he's been. I can have a temper myself, and sometimes you just need a voice of reason to bring you back from the edge. He seems to mean well though."

I crossed my arms on the table and let my head flop into them. "Ooh god this day is so awful."

"Accurate." Supergirl agreed. I peaked at her from my arms. She was leaning on the table, smile softer. "Thanks for the clothes." she said.

"They fit you better than me." I replied. It was almost frustrating. I'd misread the label on that shirt when I bought it, and it had wound up being two sizes too big, the jeans had been bought in the vain hope that one day my hips may actually widen into something resembling a woman's. Supergirl wore them snugly, all perfect curves and perkiness.

Her expression went more serious and she looked at the door my dad had left through. "So, this Trio… why do they hate you so much?" she asked.

I narrowed my eyes into a venomous glare. It bounced off her perfect skin and I had to try hard not to growl with frustration. "I have no idea, okay? About a year and a half ago, my best friend cut contact with me, and teamed up with two… bitches, and made it their personal mission to make my life hell. I don't know why they do it, but it's been nonstop ever since I started at Winslow and it's just…"

Stupid tears welled up in my eyes. I took my glasses off and wiped at my eyes. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's stupid and petty."

"I found most of human high school to be like that, yes." Supergirl replied.

Whoa, wait, what?

I replaced my glasses and stared at her. She raised a brow, before her word choice registered. I swear I could see the f-bomb detonating behind her eyes. Perfect, now I had my own ammunition I could use against her.

"'Human' high school, huh? You look pretty human to me."

"T-that's because I am!" Supergirl said quickly. She hopped off the table. "Just a poor choice of words, you know! Long day, not thinking straight!"

"Uh huh." I said, making it clear I wasn't convinced for an instant. From the moment I really talked with her, I knew Supergirl was… strange. Her friendliness was fine if a little weird; after the past year or so, I'd kind of forgotten what that was like. But she seemed completely oblivious to the world around her. No idea about power classifications, using her powers to assault someone (not that they didn't deserve it), and trying to pay for bus fares with paper money of all things. Her story was all over the place too. I'd never heard of a cape having their powers 'reset' like she claimed they were, and there was no way someone willingly came to Brockton Bay without either being criminally insane, or part of the Protectorate.

I laid this all out on the table, dropping each inconsistency. With each one, Kara grew quieter, and her protests weaker. By the time I was done, she was leaning against the kitchen counter, wide eyed, a look of 'oh shit' plastered on her face.

It took effort not to grin, "Am I missing anything else, Supergirl? Because it seems to me like you're hiding some secrets from us. Or you've been living under a rock for the past thirty years."

"Would you believe me if I said the latter?" she asked weakly.

"No."

She wilted, and I felt a little bad for so quickly turning the conversation around on her. But I was so done with talking about Emma and the Incident. I was more than ready to move on with my life.

Supergirl spent a minute or two, obviously debating what to say. Finally, she sighed and walked back over to the table, sitting in the chair across from me. God, even her posture was perfect.

"Alright then, the truth. But don't tell your father unless he asks. I want to keep this… what's the phrase? On the low down?"

"Down low, but same meaning." I replied.

Supergirl sighed and nodded, "Okay. First, how much do you know about Multiverse theory?"

I shrugged, "I know that someone made contact with an alternate Earth a few years ago. Are you from Earth Aleph?"

She shook her head, "No, if our worlds had made contact, the Endbringers and Slaughterhouse 9 would've been wiped out years ago."

Wait, what?!

I blinked and my eyes went wide. "U-um… want to run that by me again?"

It was Supergirls turn to grin at me. "My proper name, Taylor Hebert, is Kara Zor-El. I am the last Daughter of Krypton from Prime Earth. Your world knows of me and my friends and family through old comic books printed by Detective Comics Incorporated, but where I'm from, we and our conflicts are very real."

My head started to swim. I sank back into my chair, trying to process this, "S-so you're not just a cape. You're a fictional character brought to life?"

"Yes and no." Kara said. "I am fictional to your world, but my world is very real. There are many possibilities in the multiverse, Taylor. Fiction and reality blur the lines when you travel between worlds. Yours is not the first world I've encountered where we existed as stories, and I guarantee there are worlds where the lives of your people are recorded and told as stories of their own."

Dear god, what sick twisted person would want to read something that dark and depressing?

I swallowed, "So, um… why are you here?"

"That's a good question. What I told you was true. I woke up in a dumpster, with no memory of how I got here, and my powers 'rebooted'. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine."

This was insane. I had a living comic book character sitting in my dining room, chatting with me about multiverse theory as casually as discussing the weather. That stupid prank had been hard enough to deal with, but this was an entirely different field here. There were a dozen questions all racing through my mind towards the finish line.

The first to cross practically leaped from my lips. "So how long have you actually been a hero?"

Kara shrugged, "Three years or four years, give or take. Probably longer, but I've been involved in the odd time rift here or there, so it could be longer, and my memory is admittedly fuzzy on the subject."

The floodgates were open now. I wasn't just dealing with a loopy cape, I was dealing with a genuine article, an actual superhuman! Kara smiled as more questions started pouring from my mouth. What was her toughest fight, how much could she lift, how fast was she, what could she hear, how did she balance hero and civilian life, etc. I'd only ever seen capes in passing, and I won't deny that there were quite a few magazines covering Parahumans in my room. And maybe some Armsmaster and Alexandria brand underwear too. I have no shame, I'm a fangirl when it comes to capes, and I think the stress from the day made me crack a little. Anything to keep my mind off of school and the Trio.

Oh shit.

My mind suddenly snapped back to when Kara had rescued me and I remembered what she had done. "Oh shit!" I repeated out loud.

Kara paused and looked at me, eyebrow raised. "Everything okay?"

"You're in so much trouble Kara, if word gets out about what you did." I said.

She looked confused, "I… saved you from being locked inside a biohazard container?"

"You assaulted a teenager."

Now she looked really confused, "I… what? That wasn't assault, I didn't hurt her. It wasn't the best use of my powers I admit, but I was worried…"

"It doesn't matter. You used your powers against a someone without powers, a civilian in fact. If Sophia presses the issue, and she will, the PRT could label you as a rogue at best and a villain at worse."

Confusion turned to frustration, "That's so stupid though!"

"It's the law." I said, tiredly.

She ground her teeth together, and folded her arms. "I should lay low then, for the next few days, is that what you're saying?"

"Absolutely. Read about the laws we have for parahumans too. No offense, but you kind of know nothing about how things work around here."

It was one thing for a new cape to run around, that was pretty common. They would inevitably be absorbed into either one of the local gangs or into the PRT, no one went solo for very long - not in this town. But if someone like Kara went running around with no regard for local law, she'd make a lot of enemies in a very short amount of time. Granted, she was going to do that anyway, but it would be better if those enemies were limited to criminals.

Kara continued to stew in her frustration, but she was persistent, that was for sure. She sat up straight and put her hands on the table. "Alright, fine then. What do I need to know?"

I laid it all out for Kara, at least as much as I knew. Being a high school student, my level of familiarity with parahuman politics was a bit lacking, but I still felt I knew enough to give her a general idea of what to expect. No one was required to join the Protectorate or a superhero team, there was no required registration and it was illegal for parahumans to use their powers on civilians without good cause. There were multiple gangs in Brockton Bay, but the big three were the Azn Bad Boys or ABB for short, the Empire 88, and the Merchants. I explained what little I knew about them and their respective leaders, and the general area of their territory, though I only knew it based on general word of mouth. If you went to Winslow High, you typically knew where one gang's territory began and another's ended.

There's no denying that I was positively giddy through the whole conversation. Ignoring how insane Kara's supposed origin was, I was getting to see the birth of a cape's career! It took a lot of effort not to bounce in my chair. After a good hour or two of discussion, we had to move onto my PC to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. I debated and then decided not to show the Parahuman Online Forums to Kara. I wanted to help the girl, not scar her for life.

It was probably half an hour after that when I heard the rumble of dad's car as he pulled into the driveway, putting an end to our fun. It was time to face the music, and I wasn't sure I was ready. We both came back out into the living room, right as the door opened.

Dad walked in, and he looked drained. His shoulders were loose and his face a little lighter than when he left. His hair looked a bit frazzled, and there were new bags under his eyes. He was careful with closing the door and looked at me with regret.

"I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me Taylor. I'm sorry you both had to see that." he began. His voice had developed into an exhausted rasp. "I do have good news though. The school is giving you the week off to recover, and they're going to launch a full investigation into this."

That made me pause, "Wait, they are?"

The corner of dads mouth lifted in a smirk and his voice went lighter, "The school realized that there was a serious psychological and biological risk from the prank. So they're going to at least try and investigate what happened. No promises anything good will come of this, but at least they're not sweeping it under the rug."

My heart pitter pattered in my chest. I didn't really think much would come of this so-called investigation, but it was something, an honest chance at something good coming out of this situation. I briefly glanced back at Kara; well, something else good, anyway.

She wore a smile of her own, "Well, you've got a week to recover and prepare for what comes next, so that would be a silver lining, yes?"

"Weird way to put it, but yeah." It was a break. A small, measly break, but it was one. I'd take it.

I turned back to dad, walked up to him and hugged him. "Sorry for keeping it from you."

He returned my hug. "I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner."

"Lets just both agree we messed up, and try to move on, ok?"

It might have been my good mood, but I felt a weight lifted from my chest. The crushing weight of anxiety, which had smothered me for so long, was beginning to lessen. It would probably come back next week, and I dreaded that. But at that very moment, the relief was palpable.

Dad frowned when he released me, "There is one bit of bad news. You'll have to keep up with your homework for the next week. Sorry, couldn't get that suspended."

I smiled, "I'll take it."

The day raced by after that. Dad and Kara went into business mode for most of the day after our chat, discussing job opportunities. Kara had been less than open to the idea of working fast food, I didn't blame her, and eventually the two had decided on letting her work in the dock scrapyards. Work was hard to find, but dad promised Kara he'd try to call in a few favors and would let her know by the end of the week if he'd found something for her.

The rest of the time was spent putting together the right paperwork and background information. I did as Kara asked and didn't mention her origin to dad. By the time he'd gotten back, she seemed to mostly have gotten her story straight and dad was none the wiser to the holes I'd picked apart. Afterwards, we ate a pretty basic dinner, and most of us retired pretty early. Dad gave Kara the downstairs guest room, and headed to bed soon after wishing me good night. It was then, finally, that I took a shower and changed into clean clothes. I hadn't been in that locker long enough to pick up anything… unmentionable, but the fresh shower was heaven on my skin and I felt ready to collapse into bed once I had my pajamas on.

The nightmare hit hard the moment I fell asleep. I was back in the locker, the walls around me somehow tighter than before. The pungent stink of rotting miasma made me gag and I tried not to vomit, and tried harder not to scream at the sensation of a hundreds of insects crawling into my clothes and over my skin, into my mouth, and my nose. I banged hard on the locker, begging for release. Through the slit, I saw the Trio laughing at me and snapping pictures on their phones. Sophia, Madison, and Emma. Once, she had been my best friend, and now she stood with my worst enemies, gleefully laughing at my terror and pain.

I screamed at them, every slur and curse I knew, I threw it at them again and again, but they just laughed at me until they got bored. Terror filled me as I watched them just leave, leave me trapped inside this disgusting hell. My screams went panicked, and they just laughed again as I begged them to let me go; and then they were gone.

For hours I pounded at that locker door, tears streaming down my face. I vomited at some point, and my throat started to bleed raw. I collapsed against the locker door, crying over and over, "Please, let me out." to an empty hall.

Then I heard the footsteps. My heart leaped into my throat and I jerked my head up to peer through the slit. It was Kara, I would recognize that S anywhere. She walked up to the locker and I couldn't contain my relief.

"Oh thank god! Please, Kara, get me out of here!"

She paused, looking at the locker. Her lips twisted into a mocking grin. My heart plummeted.

"Kara, please…"

With one hand, she knocked her knuckles against the locker, smirked at me, and walked off, laughing that same. Mocking. Laughter!

I yelled awake, laying in bed and sweating from my head to my toes. My heart was racing against my ribs and I struggled to breathe. Immediately I ran my hands over myself, feeling for any insects or bugs, and feeling relieved that no, I wasn't in the locker, I was home, safe in bed. Looking at the clock on my nightstand, I saw it was barely midnight.

There was no way I was going back to sleep after a nightmare like that. I shoved my sheets off me and peeled my sweat soaked self off the bed and rubbed my eyes. My throat was dry, and I was shaking. I grabbed a hand and held it tight, willing the shaking to cease. It didn't, but it slowed down slightly.

Good enough.

I was careful to be quiet as I left my room and wandered down the hall and stairs. Dad didn't need to worry about my overactive imagination acting up again - thankfully he wasn't a light sleeper. I didn't want to think about the dream either. It made my heart ache in a way I hadn't felt in a long while, and I hated it.

When I reached the downstairs kitchen, I was surprised to see Kara at the dining room table, hunched over and slowly rocking back and forth in her chair while holding both hands over her ears. It was absolutely creepy to see, since she only had the dim light from the hall illuminating her, and wasn't making a sound.

My first thought was to quietly approach her and make sure she was okay. But that might startle her, and startling someone who could field goal a pickup truck seemed like a Bad Idea. I gently called to her from a distance instead.

"Kara? Are you okay?"

She paused, and looked up at me, rubbing at one eye as she did. "Oh. Hi Taylor, I didn't see you there. Don't mind me, just…"

"Trouble sleeping?"

A nod.

I grabbed a pair of glasses from the cupboards and poured out two glasses of water, and offered her one. She took it with a quiet thanks and I sat down. After taking a sip, I asked, "I know how you feel."

"Nightmares?" she guessed, then sipped from her glass.

My reflection stared back at me from the surface of my drink. "You could say something like that. Same for you?"

"I learned to live with my nightmares a while ago. They don't bother me anymore."

"Well that's… depressing."

Kara snorted and looked at the front door. "My powers are slowly returning Taylor. With them, I can hear more and more about what goes on in the city."

"Sensory overload?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Give me a few hours and I'll have that under control no problem. No, the issue is that… People out there are suffering, and I'm sitting here in someone else's clothes sipping on ice water. I want to be out there damn it, sitting here just feels wrong."

I took another sip, "Well firstly, you wear those clothes way better than I ever could. Second, the world is always going to have people suffering. Its sad, but it's a fact of life. No point beating yourself up over it."

It was a depressing reality. I could understand her desire to do good, but it was impossible for any one person to just… end suffering. From a purely realistic view, while it was tragic, it was also practical for Kara to wait and gather herself before jumping to other people's aid. And even once she was able to, she'd only be able to help so many people at once. Some would slip through the cracks. But looking at her, I knew that she realized this.

"You're right, of course." Kara admitted. "But when you can hear every mother screaming over the loss of her child, every robbery, every accident, every murder, it becomes a lot harder to rationalize."

I… didn't have a counter for that. I returned to staring at my drink. It might have a better answer for her.

Kara chuckled. "Sorry, I should learn to keep this stuff to myself. I take it your nightmare was related to the… incident?"

I didn't meet her eyes. Kara seemed like a good person, she really did, but… I pictured that smirk, that mocking laughter, and I found it hard to answer her. It was easy for someone to act nice, but genuine kindness? Rarer than gold.

"Sorry, I shouldn't pry." Kara said when I didn't answer. She added softly, "I can stay up with you if you want, until you're ready to go to sleep. Like I said, I'm no stranger to nightmares. They're easier to deal with when you're not alone."

"Easier to say when your best friend hasn't betrayed you and made it her personal mission to make your life a living hell." I almost snapped. It just tumbled out and I couldn't keep the venom out from it.

Kara sighed, "Fair. Can I just offer one word of wisdom Taylor? Something I've picked up over the years."

I gestured for her to speak.

"If she really has done what you claim she has, she was never your friend to begin with. She might have said otherwise, but a real friend won't turn on you. You might fight and grow distant, but you'll never betray one another. Whatever her reason, Emma Barnes was no real friend of yours."

I wanted to throw my glass on the ground. I wanted to scream at her, how could she possibly know that? How could she know how it felt to have your closest friend turn around and stab you in the back!? I didn't, I just tightened my grip on my glass and closed my eyes tight, because I knew on some level she was right. It hurt so much to think about, but I knew she was right. Maybe Emma had been genuine at some point, but if a single summer was all it took to turn her into my worst enemy, then our friendship clearly meant more to me than it did her.

"God that hurts." I whispered.

"Life isn't fair." Kara agreed. "But I've also found that if you have the will and keep pushing forward… it has a habit of coming back around. No one's problems fix themselves, but no problem is unsolvable. Just takes a little work."

I looked up at her, "Are you sure you're eighteen?"

"Technically I'm forty eight. I just aged gracefully."

That got a small laugh out of me, but it didn't ease my tension. I wanted this conversation over with though, before Kara decided to air strike me with more rational and logical bombs. Sitting alone in the dark with my angry emotions felt way more appealing at the moment.

I finally looked up at her and met her eyes, "I have a question for you Kara. A real one, that I should've asked sooner."

"Oh?"

"You mentioned that you don't wear an S on your chest, but a symbol from your home. What does it stand for?"

That brought a small soft smile to her face, and she looked out the window into the clear night sky.

"Hope."

**A/N: I'm gonna alternate perspectives every few chapters. Taylor and Kara will be the primary viewpoints, with the occasional Third Person POV thrown in to provide context. I will never switch perspectives mid chapter however, so no need to worry about that. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and that my writing of Taylor approached something decent. Lemme know what you thought, and I'll see y'all next Friday!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Arrival 1.3**

The nightmares did pass, and I managed to get to something resembling sleep. Even though I had turned my morning alarm off, I woke up only a few minutes later than my usual time. Laying in bed for half the day held a certain appeal to it, but a low grumble from my stomach put that idea to rest. I dragged myself from my room and down the stairs to the kitchen, where I was greeted by an entirely new nightmare.

"Good morning!" Kara chirped cheerfully. She was fully dressed for the day, her blonde hair tied in a neat bun and wearing an apron. Something sizzled and popped on the oven and I could hear the kettle letting out a low whistle.

I was torn between cursing god for saddling us with one of those accursed 'morning people', or taking a seat at the table and eating. Multi-tasking wasn't an acceptable option in the morning before I'd had my tea, so I settled for the latter, grunting an acknowledgement to Kara.

She hummed, I swear to god she actually hummed as she put together a plate and slid it in front of me. Eggs, bacon, toast, as generically American as you could get and it smelled delicious. I tore into it, savoring the unhealthy juices with each bite. I had the plate cleared by the time Kara came back with a cup and the kettle, using the toast to gather up what little grease there was.

"My my, someone was hungry." Kara said, pouring me a cup and passing it to me. I took a sip, stopped and gave her the stink eye.

"How long have you been up? And how did you know I like my tea with honey?"

Kara smiled, "I rise with the sun typically. And your father told me this morning: He had an emergency call down to the dock today, something to do with the union and the companies, but he wouldn't say what. He did promise to come back as soon as the situation was settled though."

I sighed, "That figures. Dad puts too much faith in the city, too much hope for the docks."

Before she could speak, I pointed an accusing finger, "Not a word, got it?"

She grinned, "My lips are sealed."

Her expression softened and she turned to start cleaning up the kitchen. I ignored the clang of pots and pans, and said, "If you hadn't picked up on it from the state of affairs, Brockton Bay is a bit of a cesspool. Seafaring trade is a dying business nowadays, and as the docks die, so does the main work force. People can't find jobs, so they leave or turn to crime, and then more businesses leave because the city isn't safe, so more people lose their jobs. Repeat for about ten to fifteen years, and you get Brockton Bay."

"Sounds familiar." Kara muttered, and set another dish aside. "From what I gathered, Danny seems pretty invested in doing everything he can to help people with his job, as difficult as it is. That's definitely commendable."

I pushed my plate forward and slumped onto the table, resisting the urge to fall back to sleep. "It keeps him busy, that's for sure."

The clatter of dishes stopped, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. I peeked up at Kara, and she was wearing that soft smile again. "No one's perfect Taylor. I'm sure your father doesn't mean to let it eat his time."

I grunted and looked away from her; it would be easy to just dismiss what she said out of hand, as her just not understanding what my life was like, but if half of what she told me last night was true, then she could definitely relate to how I felt. It was hard to tell someone who had lost their entire species that they didn't know how it felt to be stuck in the hellhole that was Winslow High. That didn't mean I wanted to talk about it with her either though.

My eyes focused across the table, where I noticed that Kara had left that golden belt of hers. Hidden pockets I hadn't noticed before lay open, and an assortment of odd trinkets were organized neatly in front of it. Kara must've followed my gaze, because she took a seat next to me and pulled them over to sit neatly between us.

"I keep emergency items in my utility belt in case I'm ever in a situation where I can't solely depend on my powers. Feel free to take a look, just point before you grab and I'll let you know if it's okay to touch. Some of these items are delicate."

I hesitated for a moment, I didn't want to pry…

And then my curiosity and fangirl instincts took over. This was interdimensional alien cape tech! No one else would see this stuff and even if it was something boring like an alien toothbrush or something, the fact that it was alien made it immediately latch itself into my mind.

First, I pointed at a pair of folded spectacles that wouldn't look out of place in my room. "What's with the glasses? I thought you had every kind of vision?"

Kara picked them up and shook them open, "The lenses are just hard plastic, they don't affect my vision. When I first came to Earth, I had a pair that were lead lined, they helped me keep my vision in check. Now though, I use them as part of my disguise when I'm not in costume."

She slipped them on, and her hair shimmered. In an instant, Kara went from golden blonde to dull brunette. She cracked a smile, "When I'm wearing these, I go from Kara Zor-El, to Kara Danvers. Add in a few changes to my posture, and no one would ever suspect that Supergirl and I were the same person."

"Hologram projectors?"

"Yup, but it's not Tinker tech like you have around here. Back home, alien tech and normal super geniuses are everywhere. The only reason something like this isn't mass produced is because its expensive to make. Also the guy who made it is a paranoid nutcase who hates sharing his toys with other people."

No tinker tech? That would be a big game changer. Most tinker tech wasn't mass-producible because only the person who made it understood how it worked and could keep up the maintenance. Thus, most were unable to properly mass produce their tech. The only exception I could think of off the top of my head was Dragon, but that could've been due to being an antisocial shut in. I had to wonder what other neat toys Kara's world had to offer, if she was so casual about hologram glasses.

I moved on, pointing to a pair of shimmering crystals. One was a little larger than a grape, and the other longer than my index finger; I wondered how Kara had fit them in her belt to begin with. They would have been clear, were it not for the faint white fog that dulled them; I could've sworn that they were glowing, too.

Kara set her glasses down and nudged the smaller crystal first. "This was from my cousin. It's an emergency shelter, if I ever find myself on a planet with an environment my biology can't handle. If I activated it and deposited in soil, it would rapidly grow into a structure about twice the size of your house. It's not from my Earth though, its Kryptonian tech."

She pointed to the larger crystal, "This is a storage crystal. Within it contains hundreds of blueprints of Kryptonian technology. Combined with the shelter, and I could expand it and eventually build a way off the planet. It would take years though, even with that knowledge, for my shelter to produce a craft worthy of interstellar travel."

I was floored, that was amazing! What kind of world had she come from, that self building homes were a thing!? Actually, I realized with a foreboding thought, what could be dangerous enough to wipe out an entire planet filled with technology like that. I made an effort not to shudder at the thought, and pointed to the next object.

Most of what Kara kept in her belt was fairly dull compared to the crystals. A phone with military grade hardware, emergency beacons, a lock picking kit, and a very small first aid kit. I had no idea how she fit half of it in her belt. When I asked about that, she explained that it used shrinking tech from another cape that shrank items when she put them in her belt. It had a limit to how many items it could shrink, as too many would require a greater power source. For now, the belt simply fed off of the natural energy that Kara's body produced and stored it within the buckle.

Okay, I lied, there was one more item that caught me off guard.

"What do you need with money?" I asked, poking the small stack of bills. It had to be close to two or three hundred dollars, if I had to guess.

"Same reason for most of my kit: I've been in enough situations where I've been depowered, and having currency can be useful in a pinch. I'm surprised you recognize it though, some dimensions have odd currencies."

I eyed the stack of bills cautiously, "Well, they look legit to me, though who knows how far they'd get you."

Kara shrugged, and neatly started packing her belt back up. "Like I said, it's an emergency fund. If your father can help me find a job, then it won't be an issue, and even then, I don't really need money. Not for anything but clothes, really."

At that, I saw a sparkle in Kara's eyes, and grew very uneasy. I grabbed my plate and moved to the kitchen, pretending I hadn't noticed it. Too little, too late.

"So, Taylor. Now that you've interrogated me, mind if I ask you a question?"

I paused, wet dish in hand, and eyed her over my shoulder. She was smiling and her eyes were sparkling. "Sure…" I said, slowly.

"Are there any malls in Brockton Bay?"

"Yes, I can point you in the direction of one if you're interested." I said, a little quicker than I should've.

"Why not tag along? You seem to know the area pretty well, and I could use a second opinion."

"For what?"

Kara continued to smile, "Well for picking out the right clothes of course!"

I set the plate down and raised my hands in surrender, "Nope, uh uh, no way. I have the week off and I am not going to spend it at a mall!"

"But, I need to put together a proper wardrobe, I can't keep borrowing your clothes."

I shook my head, "And you don't need my help finding new ones!"

"Oh come on Taylor, please?" I kid you not, this girl who was at least three years older than me, clasped her hands together and gave me the puppy dog eyes, quivering lip included.

I stared at her, wide eyed, "You… you're being serious right now?"

No response.

I folded my arms, "It'll take more than puppy eyes to change my mind Kara."

Again, no response.

I made an effort to avoid her stare, "I said no, not gonna happen!"

More silence.

I made one daring look over my shoulder, and threw my hands up in surrender, "Gah! Fine! Just stop with the look, you're embarrassing both of us!"

* * *

"This is my life now, I am in hell. I died in my sleep, and this is my personal hell." I growled under my breath.

"You're being overdramatic," Kara replied softly. I was surprised by the transformation she had gone through when we went into public. Aside from the glasses and hair color, her entire posture had shifted. Her shoulders drooped, her gait lost its confidence, and she spent a lot of time staring at the ground. It was almost like looking into a mirror, but her body language screamed nervousness and anxiety, while I purposely modeled mine to be unthreatening and beneath notice. Either way, I was impressed.

Not impressed enough to hide my annoyance though. "Three hours Kara. It took nearly an hour to get here through the traffic on the bus, and then you drag me around for three hours. We haven't bought any in two, we've just been browsing!"

Kara blinked at that, "I thought you'd like getting out of the house and away from all this drama you keep telling me about. You do have the whole week off from school, after all - it seems like a shame to waste it hiding indoors."

I resisted the urge to grind my teeth and settled for rubbing my forehead with the palm of my hand. "That's not… it's not that simple."

Why were all of her actions so nice? I had no issue with people who were naturally nice, but Kara took it to an extreme, she didn't seem to have a mean bone in her body. The Trio had turned most of the school against me; any act of kindness or attempt at befriending me had to be watched and analyzed closely or else I'd leave myself open for another hit. I had just met Kara and already she was pushing them aside. After being alone for so long, this sudden shift practically gave me whiplash. How was I supposed to deal with this?

Kara stopped in the middle of the walkway and looked intently at me. What few shoppers were wandering at the moment circled us without a second look. "Taylor, I am sorry. I should have been more considerate. Is there anywhere you'd like to go? If not, we can just go back to your house if that's easier."

I felt relieved and let my shoulders slump, "Home sounds good. Thank you, Kara."

She smiled and shouldered her bags, turning with me toward the exit. I almost tripped over myself and my blood froze. No no no, no! Why was she here!? How was she here!? It was only noon, Winslow didn't get out for another two hours at least!

At the far end of the walkway, was Emma Barnes. She was with a group of girls I didn't recognize, which didn't surprise me as much as it should have. They were talking, giggling, and generally looked like those girls you saw in every bad teen movie with the popular girls marching through the malls without a care in the world. If Emma saw me, that would change very quickly.

I grabbed Kara by the arm, "A-actually, I changed my mind. There is one place, come on!" Before she could protest, I tried dragging her into a nearby store. I felt, for a moment, like I was trying to move a boulder, and then Kara let me drag her into the nearest store I could find. A hole in the wall bookstore.

The door jingled as we rushed in, and the lone cashier didn't even spare us a look. There were no customers at the moment, just old bookshelves and dusty novels. The ones nearest the entrance were relatively clean and organized, but the farther back you looked in the store, the more apparent it became that the store was on its last legs. The wood varnish was fading, the fluorescent lights were yellow with age, and the windows were stained and old. It fit in with the rest of the mini mall, but like the mall, while it didn't look particularly glamorous, it was safe.

I dragged Kara behind the nearest bookshelf, and used it to support myself. My arms and legs were shaking and my heart hammered against the inside of my chest; I could barely hear Kara over the rush of blood in my ears.

"Taylor, what was that about?" she asked. Her voice was calm and concerned.

I swallowed and stood up, blindly grabbing a book off the shelf, "Nothing, I j-just really like books about… Parahuman law and regulations? What?"

A quick look at the aisle tag showed I had dragged us into the history and law section of the store. Kara's eyes sparkled and she took the book from my hands, briefly scanning it before putting it back.

"For the record Taylor, you're nearly as bad a liar as I am when you're nervous." she said.

I only half listened to her, peering out from behind the shelf back into the mall. No sign of Emma and her friends, but that didn't mean much. The girl had a preternatural ability to hunt me down even if she hadn't seen me all day. I slid back into hiding and saw that Kara was looking at me, still concerned, but stern with her hands on her hips. The illusion of meekness was gone, replaced with her usual confidence.

"Taylor, is it those bullies? Is it Emma?"

No point in lying after I made that scene. "Just Emma and some of her less… enthusiastic friends. I have no idea why they're here, because classes are still going."

Kara glanced out from behind our cover, eyes narrowed, and cursed softly under her breath, "My senses are still adjusting, I can't see her. Are you sure it was her?"

"Absolutely." I affirmed with one hundred percent certainty. I had known Emma since grade school, and I learned to spot her even barely glimpsed. Yay for hyper-awareness.

There was a very malicious gleam in Kara's eyes, and she smirked, "Then just give me one minute and I'll make sure she can't bother us."

I grabbed Kara by the arm and hissed, "Kara, no!"

"I'm not going to hurt her. Just leave her hanging from a flagpole by her bra or something like that."

"Absolutely not!" I said, as tempting as that offer was. "The last thing I want is to escalate things."

Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms, "Taylor, with all due respect, Emma and co. seem to be the ones escalating things. They'll lie low after that locker incident, but it's only a matter of time before they come after you again. And they might go for something more malevolent than a biohazardous locker."

I shook my head, "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to sink to their level, and neither should you. What good is all this talk you make about being a hero, if you stoop to petty bullying? Eye for an eye doesn't sound heroic, 'Supergirl'."

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and tapped a finger to her lips. An impressed smile wormed its way onto her face, and Kara broke out into a grin, "You know, you've got a pretty good handle on things for a fifteen year old."

"I have a lot of time to myself to think on things." I replied. "So you won't go after Emma then?"

She shook her head, "No, if you don't want me to, I won't go after them. But if she or her friends try to hurt you again, I will protect you. Or anyone else I see them go after."

I nodded, that was more than fair. It was one thing to act in self defense, but I wasn't going to sic a parahuman (para-alien?) on my bullies, even if it would feel incredibly satisfying. But it did leave an important question.

"What do we do now?"

Kara wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I cringed. "There's strength in numbers Taylor. We go out, we walk past them, and we act like they don't exist. If we're lucky, Emma and her cronies won't even see us."

"And if we're not?" I asked.

"We improvise."

"That doesn't sound like the most reliable plan."

"Operation: Bra Up The Flagpole is still on the table." she offered in response. I shook my head and dragged us both to the store exit. Better to rip the band-aid off now instead of letting it fester.

I ducked my head as we stepped back out into the mall, throwing a glance to my left and my right. No sign of Emma or her friends, we might be in the clear. Kara steered us back toward the mall exit, giving me a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she did. I could feel the knots tying themselves off in my stomach and had to resist hunching my shoulders further. It was a straight shot, and it took all my effort not to break into a run for the exit.

The few shoppers in the mall didn't so much as give us a second glance. The door was clear in sight now, and I felt myself starting to tremble. We emerged out of the mall into the sun; relief flooded my system, and I could feel the knots unraveling. It was a good thing I had loosened myself, Kara had grabbed me by the shoulder, and gently but quickly pulled me aside. It was so fast, that I hadn't even noticed she'd moved me until I heard a splash, followed by confusion.

Kara's shirt was completely soaked with a drink vaguely smelling of mangos and cream. Emma and the others must have seen me and decided to retreat and wait for me to leave so they could ambush us; it was only Kara's reflexes that had saved me from a very smelly ride home. Well, at least a personal one. Now Emma looked confused.

"What the…?"

Before she could say another word, Kara spoke up in that meek tone she'd been using all day when not privately talking me, "Oh, clumsy me, I didn't see you there! I'm so sorry!"

Emma recoiled, as if Kara had simply appeared in front of her, and said, "Who are you? And why are you with her?"

Kara blinked, innocently, looked at me and then back at Emma, "Oh, sorry, my manners of course. Linda Danvers, I'm Taylor's cousin. I'm stopping by from out of town, and after hearing about that awful prank that someone pulled on her yesterday, I thought I'd take her out to keep her mind off of things. And now I've gone and ruined your drink and my top. I'm so sorry!"

Now Emma's friends were backing away, taking a very keen interest in the ground. Emma's confusion was palpable, and the look on her face was hilarious. She had no idea how to react to Kara, at all. Kara handed me the bags she was holding in one hand (That she had thankfully saved from the smoothie surprise) and reached into her pants to fish out her wallet, handing a crisp five to Emma.

"Again, so sorry for ruining your drink miss…?"

Emma reached her hand out slowly, as if afraid the bill was going to bite her, and took it. "Barnes… Emma Barnes."

Kara's face lit up, and I started retreating from the blast zone. "Oh, you're Emma! I used to hear so much about you! You're Taylor's friend right? I heard you two used to be inseparable. It must've been horrifying hearing about what happened to her yesterday!"

Several of Emma's friends snickered, and I could've sworn I heard something snap inside her head. I ducked my head, doing my damndest to disappear into the sidewalk.

Emma took a few steps back, speaking as she did, "We've… grown apart."

"Really? Oh that's too bad, good friends are hard to come by. Well, I certainly hope you two can patch things up!"

Kara turned me toward the bus stop and we started moving, "But still, I'm so sorry we had to meet like that Emma! I hope we can meet again on better terms!"

"Please stop talking." I muttered under my breath.

Thank god, Emma dragged her friends back into the mall, shooting Kara a dirty look right as we turned a corner. The moment we were past it, Kara let out a small curse and stared at her now bright yellow shirt with annoyance. "Ugh, mango. Why mango? I can take the prank, but at least make it something unique."

She noticed me staring at her, and gestured at the mess, "It's not too bad is it?"

"What the hell was that all about?!"

Kara blinked, then smiled, "Ever heard of the phrase 'kill your enemy with kindness'?"

I rubbed my temples and paced back and forth, "You're a menace, Linda Danvers. I thought I was going to die of secondhand embarrassment. If you have to do that, please don't do it when I'm around."

"No promises." Kara practically sang, still staring at her shirt.

"Can you hand me one of the shirts from the bag? I'm not riding the bus back in this."

I bit back a retort and decided to let it go; her entire act had basically forced Emma to focus on her, without throwing a single punch or insult. I would never be able to pull something like that on the trio, but Kara was an 'innocent' in all this. At the very least, I didn't think that Emma would target her right from the start. Sophia might, maybe, but not Emma.

Reaching into one of the bags, I grabbed a dark pink blouse and turned to hand it to Kara; only to find that she was gone! All remained where she was standing was her purse, the clothing bags, and the clothes she had been wearing.

"Kara?"

My question was answered with a scream of tires and a surprised shout from the crowd on the street up ahead. A child started bawling in terror a moment later. I gathered up the bags and hauled myself up the sidewalk to see what had happened. I had to shove past the quickly forming crowd, but there wasn't much resistance. I quickly bore witness to what had happened.

There was a car parked idling on the sidewalk I was walking on, with a slowly forming crowd around it. The driver sat in it ramrod with an expression of horror on his face and oblivious to them. I could see skid marks cutting across the middle lane, and it was easy to draw conclusions. The few other cars on the road had pulled over, and a pileup was quickly forming.

On the same sidewalk where the car had come to a screeching halt, Kara was kneeling on the sidewalk, in her super suit. She was carefully setting a sobbing child, a toddler really, back on their feet, and talking softly to them. After a few moments, the sobbing lessened into sniffling, and the toddler was rubbing at his eyes and sniffling sadly. Kara stood back up, and offered her hand to him, and they crossed the street, Kara raising one hand at the drivers that were showing remarkable patience all things considered.

A harried mother rushed to meet them, and the toddler ran into her arms crying "Mommy!" as he did. The mother scooped him up and the three of them returned to the sidewalk, where the mother kept thanking Kara over and over.

"I was happy to help ma'am." she said with a smile. She looked at the toddler and added, "And you'll be more careful around the streets from now on, right Devin?"

The toddler, Devin, nodded silently and buried his head in his mothers shoulder. Kara smiled and turned to the crowd, gesturing with one hand for them to move. They did, and she walked up to the car, rapping her knuckles against the window. It rolled down silently, and Kara leaned forward.

"You okay sir?" she asked.

He swallowed and nodded.

Kara peeked inside, and smirked, "Well, hopefully you'll take this as a lesson on when it's appropriate to use your phone. Be more careful next time, okay?"

The driver silently nodded, which seemed to be good enough for Kara. She smacked the hood twice, and the car slowly rolled back onto the road and drove off at a much more sane speed. Traffic began to pick up after that, and the crowd was solely focused on Kara. She didn't even speak before people started bombarding her with questions: Who was she, what were her powers, was she with the PRT, was she independent, could she give them their autograph, etc.

It surprised me how Kara took it all in stride, answering the questions smoothly and calmly, but careful not to give anything away. She noticed me, now at the edge of the crowd, and gestured with her eyes back towards the mall. I got the message and returned to the mall to find a secluded location. I wound up ducking behind a pair of oversized hedges, and waited.

A few minutes later, Kara came rushing behind them, and scooped a bag off the ground and started sliding the new clothes over her costume. I looked away in case she wanted privacy.

"That was insane." I said, not wanting to wait for her to finish changing.

"Was it?" Kara asked, the smile obvious in her voice.

"You saw what was happening, changed, and rescued the kid in the time it took me to realize you were gone. I thought your powers were weaker?"

"They are. But you spend enough time in this business, and you develop a skill for these things. I saw the car rushing down the street way faster than it should, and saw the kid wandering toward the street. Seemed obvious what would happen, and the rest was instinct."

I shook my head, "You make it sound so easy."

She didn't have a reply for that. We emerged from the hedges to a few curious looks, and started for the bus stop. The moment we came up to the empty stop, a pair of fire engines went speeding by, sirens blaring. Kara watched them go with rapt attention, and saw me looking at her, she bit her lip and looked away from them.

"I can handle a bus ride home." I told her.

She looked at me, concern on her face. "I mean it. I've taken this bus by myself before. I'll live."

Again, Kara looked after the fire engines and then at me. "Tell Danny what happened? I might be home late tonight."

"We'll keep an eye on the news," I replied.

That was all she needed. Kara pulled open her blouse, exposing that brilliant gold and red emblem, and took off down the street. By the time she had passed from one end of the bus to the other, Linda Danvers had vanished, and Supergirl leaped into the air to her next act of heroism.

And I stood waiting for the bus.

* * *

**A/N: I plan on re-editing a few key scenes in this chapter, I didn't have the time I needed to work on it, expect an updated version later today. Otherwise, next chapter is a long one, about 10,000 words. I almost split it in two, but my editor convinced me otherwise, so thank him next when the chapter goes up.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, see you next week!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Arrival 1.4**

I felt bad for leaving Taylor at the bus stop. Sure, logically I knew she would more than likely be okay; she had grown up in Brockton Bay and seemed to know the streets, and it was a short bus route from the mall to her neighborhood. I hadn't just up and abandoned her in the middle of nowhere. But, I still worried, and felt that my departure had been far too sudden.

At the same time, I also couldn't resist following the fire engines toward their destination. Even though I wasn't anywhere close to my full power, I knew I could at least provide support if the situation was severe enough. If my help could make any difference at all, I felt obligated to provide it; my cousin and I both couldn't resist getting involved, though he was far better at restraining himself than I was.

Of course, personally speaking, it was more than just my samaritan attitude driving me towards the smoke I could see rising in the downtown area. Saving that child had come to me so naturally, it had felt comfortable, familiar. Right now, more than anything else, I needed that. A little familiarity to help tether me. The last day or so had flown by, and I wasn't sure how long I could've stayed cooped up at the Hebert house. After seeing how Taylor had reacted to our minor shopping excursion, I realized that leaving her at home might be for the best, at least for now. We both needed time to gather ourselves after yesterday. She had her ways, and the weren't like my own.

I followed the engines along the road, effortlessly leaping from rooftop to rooftop. It wasn't long before the smudge of smoke I'd noticed had grown into a billowing blaze that was rapidly filling the sky. An apartment complex, one of those cheap quickly built ones resting just on the outskirts of the downtown area, had burst into flames. Whatever material had gone into its construction wasn't particularly fire retardant, as the ten story structure was rapidly being consumed by the flames. I could see one fire engine had already arrived before the other two, and firemen were streaming in and out of the first floor lobby.

I watched this all from a building mirroring the complex, and focused intently on it. My vision flickered with flashes of whites and blues, and the images before me distorted like they were viewed through a broken bottle. I blinked my eyes and shook my head in frustration. My hearing and reflexes were amplified, but my vision was still limited. Was this how it had felt for Kal when his powers first came to him? My poor cousin must have thought he was going insane.

With x-ray vision out of the picture, I instead focused my hearing. Every cry, every scream, I could hear them roiling out from that building like a wave. I tightened my attention, gathering each voice like a chord and following it to the source. One could compare it to a form of echo-location, only instead of sending out sound pulses and letting them paint a picture, I simply waited for the sound to come to me. It took me only a minute or two to determine the number of men and women trapped inside, and where they were.

I leapt off the building, and landed gracefully behind the fire engines, that had pulled together into a half circle surrounding the building, keeping the fire contained. I strode forward, back straight, chin held high, straight for the closest fireman I could find.

He saw me as I approached and turned to the side to yell, "Boss, we got a cape!"

An older firefighter, at least a decade the mans senior with a thick face and sunken eyes, turned to regard me critically, "Never seen you around here. Who are you, and what can you do?"

"Call me Supergirl, sir, and I'm fast, strong, and those flames won't so much as singe me." I said, keeping it simple. There was a time and place for the more 'theatrical' flair that came with super heroing, and this wasn't one of them.

"Supergirl eh? Well here's the deal lady. Explosion shook the apartment about ten minutes ago, probably an arson attack. Stairs and elevator are a no show, so we're gonna use the cranes for the lower floors and send men with ladders to the neighboring buildings to evacuate anyone else. We'd bring choppers, but the smokes already too thick for them to safely land on the roof."

"Don't forget that you've got Protectorate support, Captain." A voice said from behind me. I turned to see a man of average height in a tight red costume with racing stripes down either side, and two more running down his chest to form a V at his belt. His face was covered in a black visor, save for his mouth, that was shaped in a lazy smile.

"Velocity, Brocton Bay Protectorate." he offered me his hand.

I shook it and smiled, "Supergirl, nice to meet you."

"Likewise, always good to see another cape in action." he looked up at the blaze, and turned to the fire captain. "I can cover at least half the building and escort anyone I find to your evacuation routes easy, captain, if your people can lend me an oxygen mask. Can't speak for the new girl though."

"Smoke and gases don't affect me." I told him, "And I can cover the other half, if you can keep up."

"Feisty, I like you already."

We worked with the captain to coordinate escape routes. I would handle the left side of the building, from top to bottom, and Velocity would mirror me on the right. Our focus was entirely on helping the people who lived in the apartment to escape, while the fire department did their job of containing and if possible, extinguishing the flame. Other members of the Protectorate would show up soon, but as the fastest member on the team (Breaker/Mover Class five, whatever that meant) Velocity had gotten here first.

He tossed me a miniature earpiece and said, "Use this to keep in contact, just in case you find something out of the ordinary."

"Thanks," I said, and put it in my left ear.

Velocity grinned at me, and vanished in the direction of the stairs. Apparently his speed let him 'outrun' the flames leaving them as a non-issue. I on the other hand, had to take a different approach; with a running jump, I leapt for the top of the building, pushing off the ground hard enough to crack the asphalt beneath my feet. I made it five stories up, smacking hard against the building's stone edifice.

"Shoot!" I shouted, and grabbed at the wall, slamming two new handholds into the surface, and hung there for a moment. I was shocked, not just by how low my jump was, but by how tired I felt. My arms and legs trembled with exertion, and to my surprise I could feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I had known that my powers weren't anywhere near the top of their game, but this was so much worse. There should've been tests, I should have tested myself, to see just how far I could push myself in my current state. I had dealt with my powers limited before and assumed I would be fine.

I bared my teeth in a snarl, and tensed my legs and arms. That was no assumption, even as I was, I would be fine. I had saved people from worse with less, and this fire wouldn't stop me, not so long as innocents were on the line. With one heave, I threw myself a dozen feet up the buildings side, and repeated the process again and again, until I had reached the tenth story, and forced open the window. This whole process had only taken a solid minute tops, but I still needed to act fast.

I slipped inside to be greeted with a hail of gunfire and screaming. "ABB assholes! Suck on this!" someone way too young shouted.

To my relief, gunfire still bounced off my body, but it hurt, each one the sting of the worlds angriest bee; I was definitely going to bruise. I rushed forward into the hail of gunfire, feeling time slow as I sped up. The room was large and had clearly been made from at least three other apartments, I could see the remaining structure from the walls on the floor and ceilings. Nazi memorbillia covered the walls, along with the usual hateful slogans. Crates of body armor and ammunition were stacked against the wall, with rows of guns neatly organized on top of them in grate weapon lockers. A steadily growing, but still thin layer of smoke filled the entire room, and I didn't need super hearing to hear the panicked screams and ominous creaking of the building. It wouldn't be long before even this room was engulfed in flames.

There were six men, all of them with pale skin and short to non-existent hair, dressed plainly. From what Taylor had told me, these guys belonged to the Empire 88, a Neo-Nazi organization that was about as horrible as the name implies. If these guys had a uniform, the fire had kept them from slipping it on. Thankfully, they were all armed and shooting at me, so distinguishing innocent from not-so-innocent was a non-issue.

The first two guys I rushed barely saw me coming. I ripped their guns from their hands, crushed the barrels like clay, and tossed them back to them, knocking them over. The next man I grabbed by the ankle, flipping him over, and flinging him into the remaining three neo-nazi's, knocking them all over. With the gunfire stopped, I stood up with my hands on my hips and felt my processing of the world return to normal.

"Do I look ABB to you goons?" I demanded.

The four men on the floor looked up at me with wide eyes and all shook their heads no in unison. Not a one of them looked a day over twenty; by Rao, gangs were always the most frustrating to deal with. I helped them up and pointed for the exit, "Get to the fire escape, all of you. We're evacuating the building; I'll look the other way on this today, but don't let me catch you again, or I will have to arrest you."

One of them opened their mouth and I stopped him with a raised finger, "If you assume I'm an undercover E88 agent or some sort of super-nazi, I'm tossing you out the window buster, got it?"

He nodded, and I shooed them out the door. The hall was filled with smoke, but there were surprisingly few people rushing for the exits. Which made sense actually; this must've been an E88 property, so at the very least, they would have remodeled the top floors as a safe house for their gang members. It seemed likely at least, and that could be an issue.

I thumbed the earpiece and heard the radio crackle, "Velocity, its Supergirl."

There was a pause, and then, "T'sup Sg?" he asked.

"I just busted a safehouse full of potential E88 thugs. There's a lot of gunpowder weapons up here, but not too many people on my half of the building; at least, on this floor. If things are clear on your half of the floor, can you get them out of here before we have an explosive situation in hand?"

I felt a faint breeze, and looked back inside. Velocity already had his arms full of confiscated weapons, and wore a lazy grin under his oxygen mask, "I gotcha Supergirl."

He paused and cocked his head to the side, "You gonna be alright? You look a little pale."

I shook my head, "I'll be fine, just a little winded. I wasn't expecting to get shot at. Don't worry about me though, let's focus on getting people out."

"Right!" and he vanished again. I could see flickers around the guns and crates, and then they would vanish. That was one potentially big problem dealt with, now I just had nine more floors to deal with.

Theoretically, I could have just crashed through the floor to get the rooms below me, but given the deteriorating state of the building, this was a less than ideal option, so I took the stairs instead. I was met with a thick billowing cloud of smoke that filled my mouth and nose the moment I opened the door, and was followed with a rolling cloud of heat. I started hacking and brought my cape up to my face, then forced myself downstairs.

Someone had taken the initiative on the 9th floor, people were already evacuating, which made my job infinitely easier. I rushed through the hall, checking people for injuries and making sure each room was evacuated. When I was satisfied that an orderly line of people had started to file out onto the fire escape, I ran to the next floor. I repeated this for several floors after, and was surprised by how little resistance I met. Perhaps it was because of the neighborhood, or the sound of gunfire had spooked the local residents, either way, I wasn't going to complain.

Naturally, this didn't last. On the fourth floor, the door practically exploded when I tried to open it, and a wall of fire rushed out to engulf me. I cursed; backdrafts, stupid! I was lucky that there was no one else with me, or they could've been hurt. All that said, the inside of the building was a living fiery hell. Walls and ceilings were coated in flame, and the ashy water from the fire sprinklers clearly had done nothing to slow the blaze. I shouldered into the waiting inferno, keeping my face covered. Each step was a challenge, the heat was intense, and the smoke stung my eyes and burned my lungs.

But the floor was empty, everyone had already evacuated.

The following floors were all worse, literal hellscapes that consumed the building superstructure at an alarming rate. People on the lower floors had been smart and evacuated before the blaze had gotten out of control, for which I was thankful. The first floor was the worst, I could see parts of the walls sloughing off in ash and ruined wood, and it was like walking into a boiler room. But there was no one trapped on my side.

My communicator beeped, and I nearly jumped; I had forgotten about it. I pressed my finger against it, "What is it?" I coughed.

"Trapped civilian, near the blast zone when the bomb went off, wall collapsed and they're trapped inside. Only one, thank god."

"On my way."

I rushed through the burning halls and dodged or shrugged off falling debris as quickly as I could. The building was growing more unstable by the second, and it was only a matter of time before something critical gave way. I found Velocity near the rear of the complex, where a good chunk of the building had fallen away in the initial blast. Timber and drywall had collapsed the doorway, and I could hear the coughing gasping cries of a woman begging for help.

Memories of yesterday and Taylors own panicked screaming came back to me and I grit my teeth. Not a pleasant comparison to make. Velocity gestured at the fallen debris, "I can't get through and I can't touch it. It's getting too hot in here for me; move the debris, and I'll grab her then we're out."

I nodded, and got on my knees, grabbing at the edges of the debris. I glanced up, and said, "Ma'am! I need you to calm down, we'll have you out in one minute!"

I got a coughing fit as my reply; at least she was alive.

With my jaw set, and my grip secure, I took in a smoke filled breath, tried not to collapse into a coughing fit, and heaved. Wood groaned and plaster crumbled under my grip, but the blockage moved. Slowly, I lifted it up and up until I held it overhead, with more than enough room for a person to pass through.

"Velocity!" I called, and felt that familiar breeze pass me by.

He appeared a moment later, escorting a dark skinned woman with thickly muscled limbs and short cut hair. Her watery brown eyes looked up at me, and went wide with relief. "Thank you…" she croaked.

I opened my mouth to reply, and gasped instead. The entire building groaned and shuddered. I could hear a thousand stress points suddenly shift, the slow grinding roar of a building in freefall. I could hear the distant, staccato booms of the floors above as they collapsed downward grow louder. The walls around us began to shatter and explode into ash and cinders and new fires flared up; overhead, the ceiling buckled and began to fall. The woman shrieked and fell in that instinctual fear that grabs people when faced with the seemingly inevitable. Velocity covered her with his own body, waiting for the building to come crashing down on them.

They were instead greeted with my roar of agonized pain as I shouldered the entire weight of the building. My muscles screamed in protest, I could feel the blood rushing through my ears and my heart pumping. The entire building, its hundreds of tons seemed to be focused solely on me. There was absolutely no way that in my current state I should've been able to hold that building. But I've never let impossible odds stop me before.

I collapsed to one knee, and felt the ceiling buckle. I gnashed my teeth and snarled at a surprised Velocity, "GO!"

He didn't need to be told twice, and rushed the woman out as fast as he could. Thank Rao. With a mighty heave, I shoved the ceiling off my shoulders, and forced myself to sprint for the nearest wall. The floor caved beneath my feet, the ceiling came rushing down on me, and then I hit the wall. It didn't hold against my strength, and exploded into fire and smoke, showering the ground with ashen mortar. I crashed on my back a moment later, staring up at the now engulfed building and watched as gravity finally finished pulling it down.

* * *

Sweet fresh oxygen, oh how I had missed it. I sat on the rear of a fire engine with an oxygen mask and tank, taking slow deep breaths. My throat burned from all the smoke I inhaled, though I could feel it slowly knitting itself back together; even weakened, my body could heal itself far faster than a human's. I had wiped the ash from my hair and face, leaving dark streaks around my eyes and nose, and I was pretty sure my skin was as red as the paint on the fire engine.

But, I and everyone else in the apartment complex, had gotten out unharmed, aside from those blemishes. Oh, and the aches that made up every part of my body, those were unpleasant. If they had let me, I would've just let myself lay on the asphalt until nightfall, but the authorities needed me out of the way.

The apartment had completely collapsed shortly after my escape, and lay in a pile of burning rubble. Velocity had succeeded, like he said, in removing all the guns and ammo from the tenth floor. The police, who had arrived shortly after me, had questioned both of us on what happened and were arresting those related. I had promised that I wouldn't specifically arrest them; I had said nothing about letting the police do it.

While the firemen hunted the remaining fires that hadn't sputtered and died, the old inhabitants were being treated by paramedics. I had brushed them off despite their concern, and had only given in when they said they'd leave me alone if I at least spent some time inhaling clean oxygen. My throat thanked me for it, and so I sat huffing on delicious air.

I only stopped when I noticed Velocity approaching me, and sat up straighter. Pain wracked my body, followed by regret, but all he saw was a wince. "Given that you held up an entire freaking building, Supergirl, I think that's some well earned pain."

"Easy to say, harder to bear." I croaked, and collapsed into a coughing fit. I reclined loosely against the side of the firetruck, and lazily smiled at him. "But, I was happy to help."

Velocity scratched the back of his head and looked at me awkwardly. I glanced down at myself, to make sure everything was in place, and looked up at him, brow raised, "Is there something on my face?"

"No…" He said, and sighed, "Just… how are you feeling? Because I might still need your help." He had the look of a man not wanting to ask for another favor, but there it was.

I pushed myself up, ignoring the protest of my body, and looked him square in the eyes, "What's going on?"

Velocity sighed, "A little after the fire started here, a shootout erupted, other side of the city. It's at the fringes of E88 and ABB territory, but it's clear that both sides are involved, and it's getting hectic. PRT is on the way to deal with it, so it should at least be shut down soon, hopefully."

"But you want some backup?": I asked.

He barked out a laugh and shook his head, "Oh hell no new girl, you are in no shape to throw down in a gang war. No, Armsmaster and Miss Militia are leading a team to handle it. I'm in charge of this case; according to the fire captain, they're pretty damn sure that it was arson. And I'm pretty sure that an arsonist attack on what's obviously an E88 hideout right as the ABB makes a push into their territory is not coincidence."

I was both disappointed and relieved, and not even a little bit ashamed that there was more feeling for the latter. "Okay, so you want my help tracking down the suspected arsonists? I think I can do that."

Sure, I wasn't in any shape for a real fight, but catching a few fire happy nutcases? That was easy. Velocity seemed to be as relieved as I was, and smiled, "Good, then this should be easy. I don't think these guys were expecting the response to be quite so fast. Witnesses reported a van peeling out of the parking lot right before the fire started. Last eyewitness claimed it was heading northeast towards the docks. There's a few suspected buildings there that the PRT thinks might be ABB safehouses. Nothing major, but a place for their members to hide and recuperate when they're not causing chaos. Two of those are nearby, I figured we split up to check them out. If I see anything, I call you in and you do the same."

The Docks? If I recalled correctly, that was close to Taylors neighborhood. On the one hand, putting a few more crooks behind bars would, in general, help Brockton be a little safer. On the other hand, exhausted didn't cover how tired I felt. I could be as much a hindrance as a help to Velocity.

I voiced this thought to him, and he folded his arms, and scratched at his chin, "If you feel like you're not up for it, I wouldn't blame you. Head home, get some R&R, we can stay in contact if we need a little extra muscle."

That was a relief; I won't lie, when I first read up about the Protectorate and learned they were state sponsored, I felt less than confident in their abilities as heroes. My experience with government officials had been less than ideal, especially compared to Kal's own experiences. The idea of an entire team of powered humans working for the government didn't sit well with me, but Velocity seemed like good people. At least on the personal level, nothing had changed.

All that said, I really wanted to find out who was responsible for it. If they were just a few ABB mooks, I could easily handle them, even if my body felt like a puppet with its strings pulled tight. An hour of patrol, then I could head on back to the Hebert household. Maybe entertain Taylor with a few new stories; that put a small smile on my face.

I set the oxygen tank aside, took a deep breath, and stood up. "I think I have a little reconnaissance left in me. Just tell me where you need me to go."

Velocity sent me along the coast where a handful of old businesses and warehouses had been abandoned some time ago. The PRT didn't have any for-sure leads yet, but it was at least suspected that there was a gang safehouse in the area. I held onto the earpiece he gave me, and ran along the rooftops; thankfully, the buildings closer to the docks were much shorter and easier to scale compared to the apartment complex, so I didn't have to push myself very hard.

Right before I reached my own destination, my earbud beeped and I heard Velocity over the other line, "I'm at my recon point, Supergirl. Seems to be clear of ABB mooks, but they could be in the area, I'm going to give it a quick sweep."

I landed on a two story building, and leaned my elbows on the concrete parapet, "Roger that, I just arrived. You going slow for me, V?"

"I didn't give you permission for nicknames, SG," Velocity replied, an obvious smile in his voice. "And maybe a little. Call if anything pops up alright? And don't engage without backup."

I grunted at that, and ended the line by pulling the earbud out of my ear. Then I closed my eyes and focused. We were a little ways away from the boardwalk, and I could see the beach from my position on the beach, two or three blocks away at most. The rumble of the surf was an ever present background noise in Brockton Bay, and I had very quickly learned to filter it out when I focused on my hearing. Now, I did as I had at the fire, and reached for the chords of noise that lined the city. It took a little longer, but I was able to peel away much of the day to day hustle and bustle, and slowly focused in on what sounded like several men arguing in a mix of japanese, chinese and english.

Another moment of focus, and I was able to clearly make out what they were saying. During my time in stasis, father had left lesson guides for me on the many languages of Earth. I could speak any language with little trouble, though I was most fluent in English; no amount of schooling can really teach you about slang.

Regardless, I easily deciphered what they men were saying.

"Can't believe the E88 bought that. Make a little noise and they came flooding out to shut us up. Now they're out a couple hundred grand of guns and ammo and the morons left guarding them." One man said.

"They'll hit back though, they always do." another replied.

A third answered him, his voice low and cool, probably their little ring leader "And we'll be ready for them. Finish packing up, we're leaving in five before the PRT catches our trail."

Four voices responded in affirmatives, which brought the bad guy total up to five. I could handle those odds, I thought. I had handled six guys at the apartment complex, and what I had read and been told said that the ABB only had two real powered individuals to worry about, their leader Lung, and his second in command Oni-Lee. Lung was the powerhouse of the two, a man who could go toe to toe with those Endbringers I'd read about and survive. I was in no shape to deal with him, but Oni-Lee only had duplicative teleportation. Odds were good that neither of them would've been involved in a simple arson job, and if they were, I was willing to bet Lung would've sent Lee to watch their cronies and make sure they didn't screw up.

I smiled to myself, and replaced the earbud; I liked those odds. Perhaps I was jumping the gun, but again, it was only five guys, I could handle five unpowered people. For that reason, I followed their chords to the source, finding a small rundown mechanics shop, with an outdoor metal awning and a pair of large scale garages. The old sign had been torn down and the street in front of it was faded and filled with potholes. There weren't any civilians nearby save a few vagrants a building or two down, and a few cars a couple blocks away.

Carefully, I moved along the edge of the building and peered over the side, cursing my current lack of X-Ray vision. I could see one young man about my age lounging by the front of a plain white van, eyes glazed over with what must've been a very engrossing daydream. Two more men were by the open backdoors of the van, and I could hear the fourth inside, moving something around. Number five was nowhere to be seen, but I heard what sounded like a bathroom door being shut, which meant the odds were even more in my favor.

The garage itself was bare, old concrete walls with an abandoned workbench on the wall opposite the vans side. A pair of metal beams held up the structure, which was probably a good two stories tall. Lots of maneuverable room, and very little cover.

'Alright Kara' I thought to myself 'Nothing flashy, just make it as quick and painless as possible.'

Finally, I jumped off the roof, holding onto the ledge with one hand and twisting as I fell, then grabbing the roof with both hands and swinging into the building. My arms were adamant in their protests at the maneuver, but the pain was lesser, reduced to a constant thrumming across my shoulders and back. It did nothing to slow my descent; I twirled and landed right behind the van, to the surprise of the three men standing there.

Mook number one, the closest to me, jumped in surprise. I kicked his legs out from under him, knocking him flat on his back and rushed mook number 2. A quick grab for his gun before he could react, and I left him unarmed, and shoved him into the van with mook number 3. I grabbed the van doors, slammed them shut and crushed the seam tightly together.

By this time, mook number four had heard the commotion, shaken from his daydream, and was slowly (by my standards) approaching the van. I didn't give him time to react, rushing into him and smacking him against the side of the van, knocking the wind from him. By the time he realized what was happening, I had peeled several strips of metal from the vans panelling and tied him gently but firmly to the side.

I smiled at my handiwork and dusted my hands off. Inside, the two mooks were shouting and shoving each other in an effort to reach the front doors, an effort I put an end to by crushing their edges together. I waved at them from the front windshield and said, "Just hang tight, the cops will be here in a few minutes!"

"Bitch." mook number one hissed under his breath. He was pulling himself off the ground at the back of the van, where I met him before he got to his feet.

In spite of my sudden appearance, he still got to his feet and glared at me, "You just signed your death warrant, you stupid blonde bitch."

What was it with humans and blonde hair?

I rolled my eyes and picked the man up with one hand by his shirt collar, "Buddy, you're not the first person to threaten me like that, and you certainly won't be the last. At the very least though, you could cut the rudeness."

"Seemed appropriate to me," that low cool voice answered. Mook number one smirked at me, and I only had time to drop him and whirl to face my new opponent.

A ball of fire splashed against my face, whipping my head back with the momentum. What's worse, this fire was somehow even hotter than what I'd faced at the apartment complex. It didn't hurt me, but by Rao did it catch me off guard.

Then, a fist like iron slammed into my stomach, sending me careening into the nearest wall hard enough to shatter it. My aching body kindly informed me how much it hated that, and I fell onto all fours with a groan. Muffled laughter followed me down, and I could hear footsteps. Also, the sound of… tearing paper? No, not paper, skin.

Oh shoot.

I looked up and met a pair of burning yellow eyes, like miniature suns hidden behind the steel clad mask of Lung. He wore no shirt, but his chest was covered in intricate dragon tattoos, and shimmering scales were beginning to work their way through his skin. His short black hair fit well with the steel dragon shaped mask he wore, and his entire body danced with small tongues of flame. His right hand was covered in those iron scales, and he held a red hot piece of steel in his left hand.

"You did a good job catching my guys off guard, girl. But, I don't appreciate capes that interfere in my business. Do you have any idea who I am?"

There was no way I'd give him the satisfaction of an answer, but I definitely knew I was out of my league. I reached for my earbud, only to realize with horror that it was gone. My eyes flashed over the ground, just in time to see Lung crush it under his boot.

He mad a tsking sound as he ground it to bits, and I could hear the malicious grin in his voice, "We'll keep this private, girl. No need to call in your cape friends."

In addition to this lovely development, I could see his transformation quickly taking effect. He was slowly growing taller, inch by inch, and layers of muscle began to swell over his frame. With every passing second, Lung would get stronger, and I didn't doubt it wouldn't take long for him to overpower me.

There was just one issue, one nagging question I needed answered before I could do anything about it. "Question." I said.

He paused, for a brief second, and I took that as a cue to ask. "You have a healing factor, right?"

Lung smirked, "Hurt me, and I'll just get back up stronger."

I returned his smirk with a grin, "Oh good, then that means I don't need to hold back."

There was a brief moment, as the muscles in my arms and legs coiled together, where I could see the look in Lung's eyes change. The ground beneath my feet shook, and I launched forward, a bullet from a gun straight into his gut. The expression of surprise in his face was absolutely priceless.

We barely missed one of the support beams, and kept going until we smashed through the bathroom door Lung had emerged from while I was distracted, blasting it off its hinges in a shower of splinters. I sent him crashing into the bathroom sink, shattering it into shards of porcelain. Water started spewing from the ruined piping, soaking us both in water; his flames hissed and steam started to fill the air.

I was not merciful, and gave Lung no time to recover. With one hand grabbing hold of his hair, I pulled the other back and made a fist. His mask made a satisfying crack when it connected, and the man flipped over onto his back into the rapidly-forming pool of water on the floor. Quick and efficient, I hoped that this would be enough to take him out before he could get any stronger.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side. As soon as Lung hit the water, he released a gout of red hot flame into it, which filled the room with even more steam. With visibility down to near zero, my first reaction was to drop, heading straight for where I saw him last, but he was getting faster, and narrowly avoided me. My fist hit the space where his head had been, burying itself a good few inches into the ground.

"Tsk tsk. You're out of your league newbie." I heard him say, "Let me show you how the big boys play."

I heard Lung wrench something off the ground and try to whack me with it. I raised my arm and the toilet he'd ripped off the ground shattered against it. By the time the pieces hit the ground, I was already on him; I set my shoulder against his waist, hitting hard enough to bend steel. Lung grunted, and I wrapped both arms around his waist and heaved, suplexing him over my shoulders into the ground.

Water splashed and concrete cracked, but I could hear Lung already moving. His reaction time was getting worrisome. I whirled, lashing out with my foot as fast and as hard as I could, and missed again! Well no, that's not entirely true. I did hit something; something hard and metal that wrapped tightly around my shin.

'Oh no,' was all I had time to think, and then I was flying up into the air. There wasn't enough room in the bathroom for what Lung had intended. My head smashed through the ceiling, leaving a trail of broken plaster in its wake, and then I was sent hurtling out into the main garage area again. Dust and plaster coated my eyes, making it difficult to see, but I could still feel gravity's pull on me; I managed to twist myself mid air, and land on my feet. My momentum kept me sliding back, and I fell onto my hands, digging deep furrows in the ground to stop myself.

Lung whistled as I came to a stop and wiped the dust from my eyes, "You have some skill. What's your name, girl? So I can know who I am going to kill."

My vision cleared of dust, I glared at Lung. He was several inches taller now, and scales were starting to poke through his skin. He'd reignited his flames, and the amusement had returned to his eyes.

"My name is Supergirl." I told him.

Lung made an annoyed grunting sound, "What, like that fool, Glory Girl? You model yourself off her?"

"No idea who that is." I stood up, and rolled my shoulders. I easily slid into a basic combat pose. I had had so many teachers over the years, that my fighting style had taken on a distinct appearance of its own. Ordinarily, there wasn't a reason for me to use what I knew, because most of those I fought were simply too far below me. Simply twisting their arm until they screamed uncle worked for the majority of the villains I put away. But Lung, especially as I was now, definitely wasn't one of those villains. It would take everything currently at my disposal to take him out before he either got too powerful or keep him distracted until Velocity realized something was wrong and came my way.

Lung laughed at me, and fire roared from his hands, engulfing me. I ran through it, head ducked and mouth shut, and jumped over him. He twisted to face me, his right arm extended in a cutting motion. I caught his wrist with both hands, and felt the impact in my bones; he was definitely getting stronger. I clenched my hands hard, and felt the scales in his arms buckle. Lung snarled and tried to pull his arm away; to his surprise, I let him.

The extra force unbalanced him, and he stumbled forward a few steps, twisting on his feet to try and face me. I caught him in the jaw again, sending him soaring through the air into one of the metal support beams. There was a loud scream of metal scraping against metal, and he fell away from the beam, leaving a nice dent in it.

By the time he landed, I had already intercepted him, slamming him back against the beam and pinning him with one arm, my other pulled back in a fist, "That's enough out of you. Yield now, before things have to get really nasty."

Lung didn't answer me; a shudder ran through his body, and a grinding rasp left his mouth. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing at me. Quicker than I expected, one hand, larger now than my face, wrapped around my fist, and another grabbed the arm I was using to pin him against the wall. My eyes went wide and I struggled to pull my arms free, only to find them bound by iron. Lung, who now stood well over two feet taller than me, stared down into my face with those fiery eyes, and kept laughed, a horrible retching sound that didn't sound like a noise any intelligent being should make.

"Supergirl, I am only starting. Let me show you what happens, when I do not hold back."

He pushed against me, putting all that newly gained muscle to work. Boundless force advanced against me, and though I planted my feet and pushed back with all my might, he drove me back inch by inch. My aching body screamed in protest once more, unable to bear the weight pressed upon me.

First to go was the concrete floor. The ground beneath my feet exploded into concrete dust and rubble, and my footing was lost. I would've fallen, but Lung didn't let me go; his grip was tight as ever, and he instead heaved me overhead. In a perfect arc, I was tied to him only by his grip on my wrist. A sense of weightlessness all too familiar filled me when I reached the peak of my arc, and then it all came crashing down.

I don't know if that first impact actually hurt me, and that's a mystery I have no desire to ever solve. What I do know, is that when I hit the ground, my nervous system ignited into an incandescent pain that engulfed me and escaped in a howl of surprised anguished that echoed across the garage. Once was bad enough, but Lung was not a man to live and let lie.

Before I could finish registering the sheer agony my body was wracked with, a small part of me registered that I was 'soaring' once more. I had no time to prepare for the next impact, and I hit as hard as the first time. Every muscle screamed, my bones ground against one another, and I wailed with renewed pain.

Again and again, Lung did this, I know not how many times. All I remember was a steadily increasing agony of pain, as my body was reintroduced to the concept of vulnerability. I had been cocky, I had assumed I could take risks, and now I was being punished for it severely. Truthfully, my awareness of this fact was at the back of my thought process, as the only real thought I was aware of, was begging for Rao to make the pain stop.

And then, it did.

The staccato of torturous pain came to a sudden halt, and though my body still burned, it didn't worse. I blinked tears and dirt from my eyes, and saw a smudge of silver standing before me, dotted with two burning orbs. Lung still held me by my wrist, and I realized to some degree that his laughter had died down to a chuckle.

"No one is coming for you girl. I knew that the police would investigate this and the other safehouse, because I let them find these warehouses. You ran into a trap, and your backup is tied up all over the city trying to put out the fire I ignited today. Luckily for you, you will die before it spreads."

He twisted hard, swinging me into the metal beam I had just moments ago pinned him to. New pain erupted in my back as the beam bent to encompass me. I felt something trickle out of my throat and realized I had screamed my throat raw; my healing factor wasn't strong enough, not as I was.

Lung raised a massive foot, now covered in scales and sporting small iron claws, and smashed it against my stomach. I gagged, spitting blood across the floor, and then he did it again, and again, and again. My torment only ended when the beam itself shuddered and broke, and I was sent tumbling through the wreckage to the ground.

I lay on my stomach, unable or unwilling to move.

Lung laughed. "Supergirl, right. Just another cape to add to the fire."

He barked something in chinese towards the van, though I couldn't make it out. The van groaned and shifted and I heard men responding. Lung spoke again, and I was able to translate what he said, "Ditch the van, it's too easy to identify now. We'll steal another if we need to, but I'm not letting the PRT find us that easy."

That was it then, Lung was going to get away and it was entirely my fault. I had been too eager to get back in the game, too overconfident in my state of being. I had assumed how Lung would operate even though I knew almost nothing about the man aside from his powers. What could've been a golden opportunity to truly make a difference, was now wasted in the dirt, with the rest of me.

"She's not worth killing at this point." Lung said to one of the men. My eyes flicked up at that. "I didn't expect her to be that tough; I'm not wasting time trying to peel her open. We'll leave her like this. She's a newb, no one will take her seriously anyway."

A burning sensation filled my checks, and I sneered into the dirt. The rational part of me beat down my pride. I was above petty insults, living another day was a victory in of itself. Then Lung spoke again, and all logic went out the window.

"Leave the idiot on the van, we'll leave him for the cops. I'll set a torch a few blocks down the road. Let a few suburban houses burn, keep the PRT focused on them. What're a few more homeless in a city of thousands?"

Damn it, damn it, damn it. No!

I was not going to let more people be put in danger! Even if Lung hadn't said it, I knew that civilian casualties were more than acceptable in his eyes. But not in mine.

I dug deep, reaching into whatever reserve my power came from, and summoned every ounce of strength I had left. My body twitched, my muscles cried in protest, but I moved. Slowly, I moved, getting my hands and feet under me, and rose one more time to challenge the monster before me.

"Lung!" I shouted in perfect chinese.

He turned to face me, surprise on his face. I snarled at him, and took a step forward, shaking with each action. "We're not done yet."

He spread his arms. "Bring it on, Supergirl."

I lunged, moving faster than a speeding bullet. I smashed into him with the force of a train, plowing through the remaining steel door and out onto the street. He fell on his back, sending up sparks in his wake that ignited into flames that shouldn't have burned. I landed behind him, turning and skidding backwards until I hit the sidewalk behind me.

Lung pushed himself up, and rose to his full nine foot height; scales of iron completely encased him now, and fire dripped from his hands. A snarl rumbled out from his throat, but I didn't let him finish. I charged again and jumped, bringing my fist against the side of his face hard enough that I felt the mask crack.

He staggered to one side, yelling in surprise. When I landed, I went for a hard jab against his ribs, followed by a solid uppercut into his gut. He doubled over, gasping for air, and I grabbed him by the head and slammed it into the ground, hard enough to break the asphalt. He was up before the dust settled, rising like a tidal wave before me, fire spinning in cyclones around his hands.

I tried dodging his first blow, but he was fast enough to keep pace with me now. It hit, smacking against my side and knocking me to one knee. He followed with a second, but I dropped to the floor and let it harmlessly fly overhead. I sprung back up and smashed my shoulder into the fork of his legs.

The squeal of metal tearing was a less than pleasant sound, and neither was the high pitched whine of sheer pain and horror that Lung unleashed. Unfortunately, that only made him angrier, and he lashed out with a backhand that sent me sprawling across the street.

"Bitch." he hissed in a high soprano.

Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to just lay down, that this was a fight I couldn't win. Yet, I had to get back up. I didn't care what Lung said, a minute or two was all I should need to buy before Velocity would be on his way.

Hopefully.

I got up to my feet again, swaying from side to side, but remained standing. Lung lunged at me on all fours like a demented metal monster. Long talons were growing from his hands now, and he lashed at me with them. I spun to the side, barely avoiding the reach of those gleaming knives, but the effort unbalanced me. Lung had a clean shot at me and took it.

Lines of fire erupted along my back, and I tried and failed to scream. I fell to my knees and reached for my back, but my arms weren't responding properly. I heard Lung snort, and watched him march past me, towards a parked delivery van. It was old and obviously hadn't been used in months. Lung hoisted it over his head with minimal effort, and turned to face me.

A long crack ran along the right side of his mask, and tongues of fire leaked from within. The smirk was gone from his voice, replaced with annoyance, "Goodbye Supergirl. I hope not to see you again."

He brought the van down on me, and the world went dark.

* * *

I'm not entirely sure when I regained consciousness. A few minutes later, or maybe it was hours later, who knows. What I did know was that someone was moving the truck I was pinned under, very carefully. It took very little effort from me to not move while my rescuer undid my prison.

Bright light filled the crater Lung had buried me in, and the crumpled truck was tossed to the side, sending small tremors through the ground. My eyes were blinded for a moment, and I weakly raised a hand to block the sunlight. When they had adjusted and I lowered my hand, Velocitywas kneeling over me with an expression of concern.

"You...took your time getting here." I croaked. I winced at the pain.

Velocity looked relieved, "Oh thank god you're still alive."

He helped me out of the crater with the same care I'd seen him use with the civilians in the fire, and stopped under my right arm to support me. My everything every action I took, even walking hurt, and my back still blazed with pain. But when I stepped fully into the sun, it was as though a switch was flipped. The pain didn't go away, but it suddenly felt… less. An itchy feeling, like the swarming of a million ants across my skin, in my veins and filling my bones. I was healing, though I had no idea how quickly that I would.

Velocity wasn't alone, he had brought friends. The first was a tall man with a dark trimmed beard covered head to toe in midnight blue power armor with silver highlights and a helmet covered his eyes and nose. He was the one that had lifted the truck off me, though only, I noticed, after he had cut the majority of it away from the cab. The edges were still red hot. If I had to guess based on what I had read, this was Armsmaster, leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate.

The other, was a dark haired woman with olive skin and kind eyes. She wore a scarf and sash around her waist patterned like the American flag, along with stylized army fatigues; sidenote, somehow she managed to rock that look and I was almost jealous. Miss Militia, I presumed, basically Armsmaster's partner.

"Easy there, I got you." She said, coming to my other side.

I shook my head, "I'll be okay."

There was a crash. We looked over to see that Armsmaster had dropped the cab back in its crater and turned to us, calmly dusting off his hands. "You have minor burns on your hands, potential internal hemorrhaging, and four lacerations across your back. You need medical attention, we can take you to Panacea."

I blinked and turned to look over my shoulder; bad idea. My muscles seized and I almost collapsed. Miss Militia and Velocity caught me, and helped me onto the ground. I tried not to move and took slow shallow breaths, so not to hurt myself.

"Healing...factor." I grunted. "I'll be fine in a day or two."

Armsmaster knelt down in front of me, lips in a frown. "Healing factor or no, you risk infection. Supergirl, was it? You fought Lung one on one; that was stupid, reckless, and nearly cost you your life. You are very lucky to be alive, don't ruin that luck over your pride."

Every universe has one, and gee, how lucky that I managed to find Brockton Bays very own Batman. I groaned and let my head sag, "I don't need to see a healer. Just take me to a normal doctor, then I'll be fine."

Miss Militia lifted my cape, and I heard her 'hm' before saying, "Cuts aren't that bad Armsmaster, they're smaller than they were. The doctors back at HQ can clean her up, and she'll be good to go."

Armsmaster grunted, "Then let's go. The sooner, the better."

"Wait, what?" I mumbled, as Velocity and Miss Militia helped me back up, "Whererere we going?"

Velocity grinned, "Congrats Supergirl, you're getting an all expenses paid trip to the PHQ!"

* * *

**A/N: Doing some general editing and rewrites of all four chapters over the weekend, so expect some minor changes and potentially big ones. Wasn't a big fan of how I wrote the ending, I intend on rewriting a few bits to make it a bit longer and flow better. That all aside, thank my editor. He convinced me to keep this chapter together as one; my original plan had been to split it right as the Lung/Kara fight picked up, torture y'all with some cliffhangers. Lucky for you, my editor is a far more merciful writer than I.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the the chapter, lemme know what you thought in the comments, and I'll see you all next Friday!**


	5. PHO Interlude 1

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** Topic: New Girl on the Block  
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America  
Bagrat** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)  
Posted on January 11, 2011:  
There's been a new cape sighting in Brockton Bay; officials are saying she goes by the name of Supergirl. Her first public appearance interrupted a car accident in progress, saving the drivers and a child with no collateral damage.

Afterwards, she was spotted in Empire Eighty Eight territory, evacuating what is now known as an E88 apartment along with Protectorate member Velocity. The last official report mentioned that she was attacked by notorious ABB gang leader Lung, and was hospitalized at the PRT Headquarters.

Pictures and video footage of the fire rescue are linked below.

**(Showing Page 1 of 2)**

**► MasteroftheSoul**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Looks like another meathead. Don't get me wrong, more capes is always a good thing, but what does this chick do aside from punch things really hard and lift heavy things? Boooring!

**► Xtrapiggy** (Cape Groupie)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
MasteroftheSoul: Does the power matter? If she's helping people, thats what's important.

**► Silveryslope** (Power Guru)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Lets see, I'm guessing at least a Brute Class 3 bare minimum, and a Mover class 2, maybe a three. We got any more info on her?

**► MasteroftheSoul**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Xtrrapiggy: A cape should always be trying to help people, its expected of them. But I'd like to see more variety. More Eidolons instead of another Alexandria knock off. Doesn't Brockton Bay already have Glory Girl, btw? What's this new chick got that she doesn't?

**► XxMegaStonkxX** (Cape Groupie)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Silveryslope: Dude, rewatch that vid! The whole building was coming down, but I think the chick stopped it! Def a class five, ez.

**► NegNancy**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
What is with that costume? I've seen more creative shit on a lunchbox, twenty years ago.

**► Arkfragger** (Cape Groupie)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Chick's got balls/ovaries. Dumb as a brick though if she thought she could take Lung on in her first day. Lucky she's still alive. Lets see if it sticks.

**► XtraAngryNerdist** (Temp-banned) (Cape Groupie) (Power Guru)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Oh, for fuck's sake. Is this ever going to end? Everyday another damn cape shows up and shit just keeps on getting worse. Whats even the point of calling them capes when there's so little of a difference between them and the bastards in jail?

**► Glory Girl** (Verified Cape) (New Wave)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Hmm, so should I call my lawyers for copyright infringement? Cause I feel like this girl is ripping off my shtick.

Jk, this Supergirl definitely seems to know what she's doing. Awful luck running into Lung on your first day, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Best wish SG, hope you get better!

**► J3r3my_Cr1ck3t0**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Just wanted to say, if you read this Supergirl, thank you. My older sister lived in that building and she told me what you did. I can't put into words how greatful me and my folks are. I hope you get well soon!

**End of Page. 1, 2**

**(Showing Page 2 of 2)**

**► XxVoid CowboyxX** (Banned)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
[This post has been redacted for violation of forum guidelines]

**► Brilliger** (Moderator)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
For the love of- how many times are we going to have this conversation Cowboy! Stop violating forum rules!

**► Curious_Kitten** (Cape Groupie)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
XxVoid_CowboyxX: Pretty low tier stuff if she's breaking into high schools to save kids from bullying. Isn't that what teachers and hall monitors are for?

**► XxVoid_CowboyxX** (Banned)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
[This post has been redacted for violation of forum guidelines]

**► Brilliger** (Moderator)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Ugh, maybe I should start looking into getting paid for this shit.

**► wH1t3stboi**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Ya know, I'd heard Kaiser was looking for new muscle after Purity skipped town, but dayemn! Dat's a fine lookin specimen! Nice pick!

**► Karma_manster** (Veteran Member)  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
wH1t3stboi: Dude, do you have to bring that to the discussion? Friggen neo-nazis.

**► San3man**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
Hey, so am I the only one here who noticed that she's basically a carbon copy of an actual comic book hero?

**► NegNancy**  
Replied on January 11, 2011:  
San3man: Doesn't matter much now, odds are good the dumb broad is Lung chow.

**End of Page. 1, 2

A/N: I had a lot going on this week with my job and my new bird, so I didn't have a lot of time to focus on writing. I'll do another more in depth PHO in the future, likely having you guys suggest comments. Next week we return to the main story with Kara being introduced properly to the PRT as an organization.

**

**Brace yourselves, lawyers are coming.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Arrival 1.5**

_Kara_  


If I had to be honest, I was a little disappointed we didn't go to the repurposed oil rig I had seen out on the bay. From what I knew of it, that was the true headquarters of the PRT, the closest equivalent this universe had to a Watchtower, even outfitted with a missile defense system and force fields. My curiosity was piqued, but my injuries and lack of status with anyone on the PRT meant that instead of going to Brockton Bays own Watchtower, I got to visit the Hall of Justice instead.

Yay.

The PRT HQ - located in the downtown quarter - didn't even have the benefit of a unique architectural design. It was a big square building, all windows with a giant shield emblazoned with 'PRT' plastered on top of it. Practical, yes. Memorable, no.

I admittedly may have made a bigger deal of this than was necessary, but I wanted to take my mind off the turn my day had taken, and the lines of fire ants dancing across my back. As promised, my healing factor was working fast to seal the cuts Lung had laid out on my back. By the time we had arrived, the doctors hadn't had much to do besides clean the wounds before they closed and apply bandages where necessary. It was embarrassing and uncomfortable, and the whole incident had put me into a foul mood that was bad enough that I'd been left alone in my room after they finished.

My room, and the 'infirmary' as a whole, were both surprisingly large. Though, it would be more proper to compare the infirmary to a small hospital. My room was spacious enough to house a host of medical equipment and a single large bed, though it could've fit two with room to spare.

Per my request, I was given a room with a window, which I looked out of even as I started slipping my top back on. Outside, I could see that the sun was finally starting to set, and that the nearby high school Arcadia was letting the last of its extracurricular students loose. A wave of nostalgia washed over me at first when I saw the friends happily fleeing the campus. Then my sense of decency returned and I remembered how much I had endured at human high schools, and promptly turned away.

I had no idea how Kal did it, staying so upbeat even after a villain had pounded his face in. It was one of those skills I still hadn't mastered after three years of super hero work; it was a lot easier to let my frustration show and even though I knew that Kal could feel frustration, he was so much better at hiding it that I couldn't help but compare myself to him.

A knock on the door shook me from my melancholy. "I'm decent, come in."

I grabbed my cape off the bed and started reattaching it while forcing a friendly smile on my face. That became easier when Velocity and Miss Militia entered; I wasn't sure if my mood could've handled more grilling from Armsmaster without snapping at him.

"Heya kiddo, how you holding up?" Velocity asked, his hands not so subtly hiding behind his back. Miss Militia held herself similarly, but managed to be more subtle about it.

I arched a brow, "That depends entirely on what you two are carrying."

Velocity grinned and shared a conspiratorial glance with Miss Militia, "Well, we've all had to deal with too much smoke inhalation, and have our ways of dealing with it. So, pick your poison."

He revealed a quart of ice cream, "Mint with optional chocolate syrup."

Miss Militia revealed a box of teabags, "Or Earl Gray with honey."

Storm Clouds pass eventually, and I felt my mood brightened a little, "Do you offer ice cream and tea to every girl you bring to your HQ?"

"Nah, just the ones that go toe to toe with the biggest monster in the city and live." Velocity replied. He wiggled the quart, "Still no answer by the way!"

"I'll go with C, all of the above."

He was right, of course; the ice cream helped soothe my throat from the smoke and burns, and in general was really tasty. No, I didn't bother grabbing a bowl, I'd had a rough day and I was going to eat that entire carton dang it.

"Consider it a peace offering as well," Miss Militia added, as I was busy shoveling ice cream down my gullet.

I paused and raised a brow, "Peace for what?"

"Ya know," Velocity said, "For Armsmaster being… Armsmaster. Dude is kind of a dick to people."

"Velocity." Miss Militia warned, though her tone suggested she wasn't disagreeing with him.

The speedster raised his hands defensively, "Look, I'm not saying he's bad at what he does. He's the leader of the Protectorate ENE for a reason; but come on Militia, he's terrible with people."

There was… a lot of truth in that, at least from my short time with him. I set the ice cream aside, and folded my arms, "I wouldn't hold what he said against you guys. One person isn't exactly indicative of an entire organization. Besides, I've dealt with people like him before, and I've got thick...ish, skin."

I saw the edges of Miss Militias eyes crinkle in a clear smile, she was still wearing her scarf around her face which made sense. We had just met, secret identities were off the table for them, even if I had worked with Velocity.

"Armsmaster means well, he really does. But he doesn't handle people very well, and we've lost potential members because of that. A few heroes have left Brockton all together because they didn't want to deal with him."

Oh. Yeah, I could understand that being a problem. Given how much stress existed in the field, it didn't surprise me at all that heroes would leave for greener pastures if they felt overpressured or unappreciated it. I'd seen it before back home, especially in Gotham.

I tapped my chin and shrugged, "Well, like I said, I have thick skin. It'll take more than a few rude comments from Armsmaster to scare me off."

Speaking of Armsmaster, no sooner had I said his name, did I pick up his voice several halls down, moving in our direction. He was in the middle of a conversation with someone, a woman whose voice I did not recognize.

"...And after running her face through our database, I've found no matches. As far as the United States Government is concerned, Supergirl doesn't exist outside of old comic books."

Why was I not surprised that that was one of their first acts after bringing me to their home base?

The woman's voice was firm, and I could feel the exhaustion eating away at it with every word. "She could be a Case 53 Armsmaster, though her appearance doesn't suggest it. No markings?"

"Negative. And she hasn't admitted to any form of amnesia. The only file I have on record that matches her description, is of a report from Winslow High. She apparently rescued a girl from an exceptionally cruel prank. To call the situation in Winslow a mess would be an understatement at the moment, and her involvement just makes it worse. However, Director, I would still recommend her in spite of this. According to Velocity's report, she exhibited clear skill and focus during the evacuation. The fact that she was able to survive a fight with Lung afterward, and that she seems to be recovering rapidly from it, suggests she could be an excellent asset to the Protectorate."

An almost wistful sigh came from the woman, "A parahuman with straightforward powers? I never thought I'd see the day. A good brute to even out the roster would be useful, either in the Protectorate or the Wards. Do we know how old she is?"

"Negative ma'am."

"Helloooo? Earth to Supergirl?" Velocity snapped his fingers in front of my face before Miss Militia could pull his hand back and scold him.

I blinked, shook my head, and smiled at both of them, "Sorry, I heard Armsmaster talking to someone down the hall. Sounds like he's not done with me yet."

Right on cue, the door to my room slid open and Armsmaster walked in, still in costume, with the mysterious woman in tow behind him. She was a heavy woman with short blond hair and steely grey eyes, dressed in a navy blue jacket and matching skirt with a simple white blouse underneath it. There was a hardness and suspicion in her eyes that put me on guard; this was a woman that had little regard for those around her, and even less trust.

I nodded at Armsmaster, and offered my hand to the woman, "Hi, I don't think we've been introduced yet. You can call me Supergirl."

She regarded my hand for a moment with suspicion, but took it firmly and shook it. "Director Emily Piggot. I direct the operations of the Protectorate and PRT in Brockton Bay."

Ah, she was the 'head honcho' as my cousin might say, the woman in charge. I released her hand and smiled, "Well Director, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sorry for the mess I caused you, I certainly hadn't planned on being buried under a truck by Lung when I woke up this morning."

Piggot grunted, but seemed unamused by me. Her eyes flicked to Velocity, who was the only one gawking, looking between me, the director and the door. Militia was chuckling softly to herself, but remained a silent observer otherwise.

"Do you have something to say Velocity?" Piggot demanded.

He paused, looked at me again, and let his shoulders slump, "No ma'am, just trying to keep up."

"Velocity is just confused on how I knew you were coming ma'am." I tapped my ear and smiled, "I have enhanced senses, I could hear the two of you coming several halls down."

Still no amusement, still dead serious. In fact, she frowned if only fractionally, "Hm, then I suppose we can cut straight to the chase. Why are you in Brockton, Supergirl? And most importantly, who are you."

Now it was my turn to frown, but I wasn't subtle about it like she was. I folded my arms, "I believe I have a right to privacy, director. My secret identity is mine to protect."

"A secret identity is only a secret to the public miss, as of this moment you're not a registered US Citizen, and any chance of privacy you might've had was forfeited when you and Lung nearly brought down a building in the Docks and left a five foot crater in the middle of the road. We don't know who you are or where you're from, only that you possess powers and seemingly good will. Unlike some, I'm not willing to accept that on good faith."

At the rate she was speaking, I wasn't going to have much good will left by the end of this conversation either. Calm Kara, she does make something of a point. I didn't have the reputation here that I did back home, so of course people would be suspicious. So while the director was being blunt about where she stood and how she saw me, I could not deny that it was an incorrect view.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself; at the very least, they deserved some of the truth, "I don't know why I'm here, if I'm honest ma'am. I woke up in a dumpster behind a Fugly Bobs yesterday, with no memory of how I arrived here. What I did know was that I possessed powers and that there were people needed help. So… I jumped in when things were looking dicey, and I think Velocity told you the rest."

"And the incident at Winslow High?" The director asked.

I sighed, "As I said, enhanced hearing ma'am. I heard someone screaming, begging for help. I didn't think, I just sprang into action."

Piggot looked at me seriously, ger eyes searching for… something, I wasn't sure what. After a moment, she glanced at Armsmaster, who gave a barely perceptible nod. Interesting, I wondered what he knew that she wanted him to confirm.

Whatever it was, she didn't seem entirely pleased with it. She sighed and looked at me again, "I'll be frank with you Supergirl, I'm not sure how to feel about you. On the one hand, you voluntarily assisted one of our members in what could've been a disastrous evacuation, and personally saved his life. On the other hand, you also blindly charged in and engaged one of the most dangerous parahumans in the city, and nearly died for your efforts. I'm honestly not sure if letting you join the Protectorate would be for the best."

I blinked. What?

"That's… presumptuous, director. I was more than happy to help, but what makes you think I want to join the Protectorate?"

"Let's count the reasons," Piggot said, holding out her hand, index finger extended, "One, legally speaking you don't exist; we can fix that if you join. Two, we provide full health benefits, payment and support. This includes costume supplies and resources to assist you in your 'hero' work. Three, you'd have the full support of the Protectorate to back you up should you ever find yourself in a situation beyond your capabilities, which leads me to point four. Independent capes rarely survive their first month, even fewer their first two."

With each point she counted off on her fingers, I felt a bit more annoyed. Yes she had some good points, but she didn't need to be pompous about it. Yet still, the rational part of me could not deny that from a purely practical standpoint, I had a lot to gain from joining the Protectorate. I would have guarantee help to take care of the people in Brockton, an actual paycheck, and most importantly, an actual identity. Danny had help me setup a 'false' identity so I could look for a job on the docks, but we both knew that it wouldn't hold up under any real scrutiny. Armsmaster's little chat with Piggot had definitively proved that.

I sighed, "Okay then director. Let's talk shop."

* * *

We moved from the medical ward to one of the conference rooms several floors up. A few of the building staff had stopped to double take as I walked by, and I hid my smirk; it was probably odd to them seeing a comic book character come to life. The conference room had an open window that let me get a good look at the downtown skyline, and the brilliant violet sunset spilling across the sky. I ached for more sunlight, and endeavored to spend more time absorbing its rays before I charged off on more acts of heroism. Whether I would actually remain true to this, remained to be seen.

Piggot sat across from me with Armsmaster at her right; one of her assistants had brought a standard Protectorate contract, and had handed it off to me. Piggot spoke as I leafed through the document, "We're willing to wait for you to spend a few days reading over the document and coming to a decision, as it is a bit dense-"

"Done," I declared, and slid the document forward.

She paused, mouth open, and Armsmaster's lip twitched in something vaguely resembling a smirk. I smiled at them both as innocently as I could. "I have an eidetic memory, and because of my super speed I can process things much faster than a normal person. Normally I'm faster, but like you said, it's a dense document."

I slid it forward and flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for and tapped at it with my finger, "Now, I do have a few questions, especially pertaining to page Article XII on page 42, mostly in relation to costume design. I understand that my name and costume are based off an existing character; do I have to worry about copyright infringement? Because I can say right now, I am not removing the S. I might be persuaded to change my name to Superwoman though."

It took a minute for Piggot to process all I just said. Armsmaster leaned over her and glanced over the document. By then, the director finally found her voice and spoke up, "We checked this earlier when Velocity told us about you. Though your image is technically owned by Detective Comics Incorporated, the company was facing bankruptcy when Leviathan attacked the city it was based out of. It folded with no fanfare, and most of its properties were purchased by the United States Government. Understandably, fictional superheroes fell out of favor after powers began to manifest across the world. So the property is now technically public domain."

My smile widened and I felt relieved. The last thing I wanted was to go to court for the right to wear my family crest. I leaned back and forth in my chair, drumming my fingers against the desk, "Well good, glad that's cleared up."

Piggot cleared her throat, "Yes, well, I am glad to have cleared your concerns. That said, if that was your only concern…"

Oh dear director, I am the daughter of Krypton's senior judge, a prodigal child of one of its greatest scientists, and cousin to two Pulitzer winning reporters. We had only just begun to cover my list of concerns. I flipped to a new page and I think Piggots eye started to twitch.

"Designated patrol hours, am I only allowed to patrol during these times, or am I free to act even if I am not on duty?"

Armsmaster answered that concern with practiced ease. "All members of the Protectorate are allowed to assume heroics in the face of a crisis regardless of if they are on duty, however it's recommended to follow your assigned time for the sake of your mental and physical well being."

I grunted, there was absolutely no way I was going to let anyone dictate when I could and couldn't save someone in need. I moved on to my third question. "Paperwork, how intense is it? This isn't mentioned in the contract, but I'd like to know if I have to write out every action I take in triplicate for the sake of 'the record'."

Piggot this time, "Capes are not required to fill out paperwork related to their crimes but are required to report any and all crimes or crisis they have responded to. If you possess tinker abilities, you will need to file reports on what you have built and what its purpose is."

And on it went, I would question her or Armsmaster and they would answer me. We spent a good hour or two at least cruising through that contract, as I slowly pieced together what exactly being a member of the Protectorate would mean. Near as I could tell, it would be very different from my time in the League and Justice Society.

Both organizations were very informal and started as a simple gathering of heroes; eventually both had been endorsed but not controlled by the United States government, but they never grew particularly formal, outside of managing the budget which was mostly left to Batman or whoever took his place at the time.

The Protectorate though, was essentially an extension of the United States law enforcement. I was bound to follow the law and certain protocols that came with such an obligation, as well as requiring full first aid certification and gun safety classes (There were more, but those seemed to be some of the most important). Payment was fairly good, but not amazing, but the real kicker was how much gear and support was provided. If I needed anything related to superheroing, the PRT provided it, which extended in full to health benefits and insurance. Most importantly, the Protectorate would do all in its power to keep my identity a secret and provide protection to those close to me; which in this case, meant the Hebert's. Honestly, it seemed like a pretty good deal, save for a few hang ups.

Without proper permission, my jurisdiction was limited to Brockton Bay, if I wanted to hero elsewhere I needed to apply for the proper permits or transfer to the local Protectorate team. Providing assistance outside of the US in general was a big no no and would be seen as a violation of international boundaries if I took it upon myself to 'interfere'. That made me hesitate. Back home, the one thing that separated Kal and I from the other heroes was our neutrality.

The world knew neither of us came from Earth, and we had both worked tirelessly to prove that our interest first and foremost was the safeguarding of the innocent. Thus, many nations welcomed us with open arms, so long as we didn't interfere in local government. If I joined the Protectorate, that freedom would be gone, which made me very uneasy.

But, I also knew I was nowhere near the level I was back on my Earth, and it could take months before I was. The fight with Lung had been, as much as I hated to admit it, humbling. I needed help and resources to be at my best, and alone with no identity, money, or allies at my disposal, I was far from one hundred percent. Practically speaking, joining the Protectorate would be in my best interest.

I folded my hands atop one another, brow knit together in thought and stared at the document. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I looked at Piggot and asked one final question.

"If I wanted to, can I quit from the Protectorate at any time?"

She didn't back down from my gaze as she said, "Yes. If you feel for whatever reason that you don't wish to act under the service of the PRT, you are free to leave whenever you wish. We can't force you to stay."

I collected the document and flipped it back to the first page. There was a lot to consider here, but I didn't feel ready to sign, not yet. I needed advice, and a clear head, neither of which I really had at the moment. Of course, this all depended on if Armsmaster and the director would let me leave without making a decision.

As if reading my thoughts, Piggot said, "How long do you need to decide? We can't force you to sign."

Oh thank Rao.

"Give me until tomorrow. I just need time to think this over." I said.

Piggot nodded as though she'd expected this from the beginning, "Alright. I'll have my secretary pencil you in for tomorrow."

We both rose and shook hands, and all the while I wondered, what should I do?

* * *

"Ohmygod you met Armsmaster and Miss Militia in the same day!" Taylor said, or rather, squeaked. Piggot had been kind enough to give me a lift to the Hebert neighborhood and I walked the rest of the way to their household. I had found Taylor by herself, and filled her in on everything that happened; the girl had flipped between worried to amazed to awe-struck and back so many times that it was giving me whiplash.

I shrugged, "Miss Militia is a sweet lady, I wish I had gotten to talk with her more. Armsmaster is a bit blunt, but I can handle blunt."

Taylor was practically bouncing on the couch, her excitement was palpable. I hadn't told her about my final decision yet, and intended on keeping my misgivings a secret. This was the most excited I'd seen her since I met her, and I didn't want to ruin her fun with my personal worries. Besides, there were other more immediate concerns at play.

The sound of Danny's truck pulling into the driveway caught our attention, and he walked through the front door a moment later. He paused when he saw me, and then seemed to remember who I was and why I was here. I noticed the dark bags under his eyes, and stood up from the couch.

"Evening Mr- Danny. Are you feeling okay?"

He yawned before answering me and rubbed at his eyes, "It was a long day at the union. Another business is leaving town; no one was happy about it."

Taylor winced, I couldn't blame her. Things didn't look to be getting better in Brockton anytime soon. I would have to fix that.

Danny shook his head and put on a tired smile, "But, Linda, I did manage to at least get a few potential openings. There's a business that's starting up and looking to start scrapping some of the old ships in the graveyard. They could use a parahuman with super strength."

There was another detail I had forgotten, Danny promising to help me find work. If I joined with one of the dock businesses, my money problems would be managed and I could operate independent of the PRT, but would lack all the resources that they could provide. That was thinking purely practical; it was the irrational argument that ultimately decided it for me.

"I think I'll pass Danny. I appreciate what you did for me, I really do, but… The Protectorate has made me an offer to work for them with full benefits, which include protection for those associated with me. I can't, in good consciousness, take what could be a potential opening from someone else who needs it more than I do."

For a moment I saw what might've been a knowing smile on the mans face, as if he had expected me to say that! But it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and he nodded, "Alright, I'll let them know. All that said, PRT?"

I held up the contract, "Haven't signed yet, wanted a second opinion on all the legalese. Figured you might have some experience with these kind of contracts."

Danny took it from me and started flipping through it; as he did, I saw a spark in his eye. Interest might've been the best word to describe it, or relief. Given the state that the Docks were in, I imagine that being able to help someone prepare for a new job might've been a wonderful change of pace for him.

"Give me a minute to skim through this, and I'll see what I can do."

I smiled, "Thanks Danny, I appreciate it."

Then I turned back to Taylor, and pointed upstairs, "While he's doing that, I have two questions to ask you Taylor."

She cocked her head to the side, and

I held up a finger, "First, I need your help tomorrow testing my powers. I have no idea what my current limits are and it was incredibly stupid of me to run off without knowing. Two, I need to design a new costume for tomorrow; if I decide to join, I'm heading back to the PRT HQ tomorrow, and I'd like to have a few new designs prepared. What do you say, you up for it?

Taylor pinched herself and looked up at me, "Okay, I'm not dreaming, good! Let me go grab some notebook and pensandI'llberightback!"

She was off the couch and up the stairs in impressive speed; while Danny chuckled and kept reading through my contract. I watched her leave and thought back to that first time I met her, as a catatonic girl that refused to speak to anyone. The contrast was startling, and it softened my smile. Whatever else I had done that day, whatever mistakes I had made, I at least knew for certain that I had done right by one person.

I think I could live with that.

* * *

**A/N: So sorry for the late post tonight, and sorry its so short compared to the last few. I might expand upon it over the weekend, especially after my editor gets back. Actually, I'm looking for a second editor too, so if anyone's interested, please shoot me up. The more people I can have yelling at me before I post a chapter, the better the quality. **

**Its the end of the first arc, and next week we get some more bonding between Taylor and Kara, along with Kara meeting the rest of the Protectorate and the Wards. Things are in a slow burn at the moment, but hopefully they'll start picking up. I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next Friday!**

**Edited 8/25/2019**


	7. Interlude 11

**Interlude 1.1**

_Armsmaster _

Colin Wallis, or as most of the world knew him, Armsmaster, had had a long day. Though he was no stranger to the chaotic nature that was the norm for the city, that day in particular had tested his patience. Several brief eruptions of gang violence, a fire that had threatened to burn down a good chunk of the downtown district, and a new cape that seemed to employ 'leap before you look' as a personal philosophy. This was all, of course, without acknowledging Director Piggot's own efforts contributing to the problem.

It was hard not to sigh; more than once, he wished that people were as simple and reliable as the machines he worked on. It was cliche, but he knew exactly how every piece of equipment he designed would work, and it would work exactly the same every time he used it, so long as he maintained it.

In fact, he'd much rather be focused on his armor and weapons at the moment; instead, he was filing paperwork and reviewing footage of the day's events. There was a pattern, there always was a pattern, he just had to find it.

A ping on his helmet's comm interrupted his stewing. He opened the channel and was greeted with the holographic avatar of Dragon smiling at him. Dragon was a Canadian tinker, and one of the few individuals Armsmaster considered a friend. They had never met face to face and only communicated over computer, mostly to discuss work; it was the perfect friendship.

Dragon's avatar frowned at the expression on his face, "Uh-oh. I heard about what happened in Brockton today. Is it as bad as the news makes it out to be?"

"No." he replied, bluntly.

"Ah, so its worse," Dragon said, "You're only speaking in monosyllabic words, so it's definitely worse than the news is saying it is."

Armsmaster stretched in his reinforced chair, taking his eyes off the footage and looking directly at the avatar, "Today's events were within expected predictions. We knew for a long time that the ABB or E88 were going to move soon; that Lung moved first is not a surprise. What was a surprise, was - and still is - the new cape that assisted Velocity."

Dragon grunted, "I read the initial reports about her. She seems nice, if a bit headstrong, but she doesn't look like she's half crazy, like some capes that start out to be."

There was no disagreement there; Armsmaster nodded, "She's impulsive, but according to the report, she may be the strongest cape in Brockton Bay, physically speaking, aside from Lung." Power testing would bear that out soon enough.

That caught Dragons attention, "Oh really? How wide is that gap? Lung is a hard bar to measure up to."

"He's definitely stronger than her, by a wide margin. But I don't know any cape in Brockton that could support a ten story building by themselves for any length of time through pure physical strength. As an addition to the team, Supergirl would fill a niche we've been missing, even with Assault and Battery."

Dragon whistled, "So what's the problem? Aside from the impulsiveness that is; I know how you feel about that."

Armsmaster pushed away from his desk and headed to his workbench; he was in no mood for more video review footage, and he could focus better if he had something in his hands. He spoke to Dragon as he began pulling up incomplete schematics he had been working on earlier in the day, "The issue is in how the Director chose to handle her. She lied to the girl's face, while Supergirl was completely upfront, or at least believed she was being truthful."

Dragon paused, likely reviewing the recording that Armsmaster had taken during negotiation. She wouldn't question his assessment on her truthfulness; she knew about his armor's lie detector program, that wasn't in doubt. When she finished, he could hear the wince in her voice, "It seems like Piggot is playing hard ball. She makes a point that fighting Lung would at the very least end any chance the girl had at keeping off the public radar; if that was the point she was trying to make. The rest though… I know the Director doesn't care for capes, but this was weirdly aggressive even for her."

"And that's what has been bothering me." Armsmaster agreed. "Supergirl seems to either be oblivious to the aggressiveness, or doesn't care. But the Director should and would know as well as I that a brute that could fight Lung evenly at all would be absolutely invaluable to the PRT. So I don't know why she would act that way - it doesn't make sense."

Director Piggot wasn't stupid, but her attitude toward Supergirl had been unnecessary in Armsmaster's eyes. While the girl had made a few mistakes, it was her first night out and she clearly lacked the discipline and training that Armsmaster had tried to enforce in the local Protectorate. With time, she'd be a valuable member of the team, he could feel it.

Dragon was silent while Armsmaster worked, mulling over what he said. It was a solid minute before she spoke up again, in a softer tone, "Colin, sometimes people can act irrationally for no good reason. You know this."

He grunted, and his hands tightened on the workbench for a moment. Dragon continued, "But, obviously Supergirl is still willing to give the PRT a chance. You still have an opportunity here to make sure she wants to be here."

Armsmaster paused, and looked at the avatar dead in the 'eye'. "You want _me_ to try and convince her? Me?"

Dragon laughed, "You are the leader of the PRT, it comes with the job."

He grumbled, "I don't handle people well. You remember what happened with Kid Win, I nearly drove him out of the Wards."

That was still a sore spot between the two, even though he knew that the boy's potential was greater than he believed. But the Ward actively seemed to be avoiding Armsmaster, and the two hadn't spoken one on one in weeks. If Dragon wanted him to try and do the same with Supergirl, then Tinker wasn't thinking clearly.

"I'm not suggesting you try and handle this situation alone." Dragon's avatar rolled its eyes, "But, I do think that you should make preparations for tomorrow. You want the girl to join the Protectorate? You have to make her want it."

"I have no idea how to accomplish that." Armsmaster stated, letting his hands stop working for a moment.

Dragon's avatar smiled, "But I do. Send out a call to the rest of your team for a meeting in the morning. You and I have some planning to do."

**A/N: Boom! Surprise chapter! Well less of a chapter, more of a... eh forget it. Inspiration for this interlude hit me out of nowhere, so don't worry, it won't affect the usual update schedule, y'all will get an actual chapter on Friday still. This was more to set some things up beforehand and potentially clear up a few details from the previous chapter.**

**See you all on Friday!**


	8. Chapter 6

**Orientation 2.1**

_Kara_

Whatever it was that Taylor had expected in the morning, I don't think she expected to find me sunbathing on the roof of her house. She woke up a little over an hour after sunrise, and I heard her softly calling my name when she stepped out into her backyard with a big fluffy robe on. Brockton Bay was warmer than most northeastern cities, but it was still early morning in January, and the chill was nasty.

To anyone without Kryptonian Biology anyway.

When I poked my head off the side of the roof and Taylor stared up at me. She took off her glasses, rubbed them with her sleeve, and then looked back up at me. "Kara, why are you on the roof? And please tell me you're wearing clothes."

I laughed, and flung myself off her roof in a lazy front flip, and landed in front of her in a perfect gymnast pose, arms raised, "Don't mind me, just absorbing some early morning sun before the day gets busy, had to dress appropriately."

Thankfully the Hebert household had very angular roofs, so there was no chance of anyone catching sight of me sunbathing, or they'd have been very confused. I was dressed in a tight blue sports bra and an extra pair of bike shorts that I usually wore under my skirt when on patrol. Normally clothes didn't really matter when it came to absorbing solar radiation, but every little bit would help.

There were a lot of emotions that flashed through Taylor's eyes when she saw what I was wearing, mostly jealousy? I wasn't sure, but they passed quickly and she made sure to look me square in the face as she spoke. "Have you been laying on the roof all morning?"

I rolled my shoulders, "No, only the last forty five minutes or so. I did take a shower first, got changed, and made a quick little snack. Oh, and ran a few dozen laps around your neighborhood first. Also, I found the dog your neighbors lost."

She gasped, "Oh my god, you found Rascal!?"

"He was a block or two down the street, I saw the signs hanging up." I shrugged.

Taylor openly stared at me, then shook her head and brushed a curly lock out of her face, "You really are an alien, aren't you?"

I smiled, "I'm just a girl trying to get by, nothing more and nothing less."

Taylor snorted and we headed back inside, "Just a girl she says; most girls can't bench press buildings."

She had me there, so I could only respond with a chuckle. Inside the teapot was steaming, and Danny was up and dressed already. Compared to the last two days I had seen him, he looked… not great, but healthier, a little happier. The bags under his eyes weren't as intense at least, and he gave a small but genuine smile when he saw us come in.

"Morning Taylor, Linda." he greeted. I had ultimately decided to keep my true name and identity a secret from Danny for now; the less people knew about where I was from, the easier my time here would be. Taylor had been able to catch me off guard before I had put my story together, but now I was more than ready to reassume my Linda Danvers identity. When things had settled, I would tell Danny the truth about where I was from, but only once money and employment weren't an issue.

"Morning dad," Taylor greeted, and beelined for the teapot.

I leaned against the counter and said to Danny, "Thanks again for going over that contract with me last night, Danny. I know it wasn't exactly exciting, but I appreciate it."

He waved me off, "Ah, it was fine. Honestly, actually being able to look over a contract again was nice practice, it's been too long since the last time I signed someone up for that. Even better, now that I've seen a Protectorate work-up, I have a better idea of how to deal with them if it ever comes up."

For a moment, his eyes fogged over as though he were looking very far away before he shook it off and forced a smile on his face, "But anyway, did you decide if you were going to sign?"

I tapped my chin and let out a sigh, "Yeah, I think I am. I don't like the idea of tying myself down, but there aren't really any other teams in Brockton Bay aside from New Wave and they seem a bit exclusive; also, I don't want to have to fight with Glory Girl over costume design."

That made Taylor snort, but the teapot began to whistle before she could pipe up. Danny folded his arms, "Well, just remember you're not bound to stay there. You can leave anytime you want, they can't make you say or do anything you don't want to. If you don't like working for them, then leave."

I had thought Danny had a higher opinion of the PRT and Protectorate, but after reading through the contract the previous night, it seemed some of that luster had worn off. At the end of the day, it was another job. A job I was really really good at, mind, but a job nonetheless. That had to suck to come to terms with.

Still, I smiled and spoke confidently, "I'll keep that in mind Danny, thank you."

He nodded and glanced at the clock. There was another few minutes before he had to head in to the office again, "I take it you two are going to do that power testing you were talking about last night?"

"If Taylor is still up for it." I said, and looked at the girl.

She looked at me deadpan, "Do you really need to ask me that twice?"

"I might need it in writing, just to be safe."

Despite my joke, Danny didn't laugh. In fact his expression grew more serious. "Where do you two plan on doing these tests? Hopefully not in the backyard?"

Now that Taylor had had her tea, she was starting to wake up and become more lively. She hunched forward and avoided her fathers expression, "Well I was...thinking the Graveyard, maybe?"

Danny closed his eyes and sighed. I looked between them and sighed too, "New girl, remember? I don't know where anything is in Brockton. I assume this isn't a cemetery?"

Shaking his head, Danny looked at me, "A few years back when the shipping industry started to die, a few angry dock workers rioted and sank a few ships outside the bay. It killed the rest of the industry and ships that couldn't leave were abandoned. Everyone calls that area the Graveyard, because that's what it is. A cemetery of dead and forgotten ships that are only good for scrap metal now."

Why was it that every time people felt scared and cornered, their reaction was to lash out and make things worse? It wasn't just a human thing either. This was a trait that seemed entirely universal, given that the reason no one knew about Krypton's fate. The governing bodies hid the truth out of a fear of people rioting in terror, for all the good it did. It was… disappointing each time I saw it in action.

Still, I could see why Taylor would suggest such a place. Relatively empty, plenty of junk I could break, free of guilt! Of course, given Danny's reaction…

"So, I take it this place isn't safe? Big gang meetup zone?"

"Yes and no. Gangs raid the area for parts, especially if they have Tinkers. But since it's in the Docks…"

"That makes it ABB territory," I finished, and resisted the urge to curse. Knowing my luck, if we ran into the ABB again, it would be the entire damn gang. Then I'd have to worry about Lung, and I doubted that he would be any less brutal than the last time.

Taylor shrank in on herself, "It's not that bad… I used to hide out there a lot when… well it doesn't matter when. The point is, as long as you're not wearing gang colors and keep to yourself, the gangs tend to leave you alone."

I grabbed a lock of my blonde hair and held it up, "Taylor, I'm practically the walking poster child for the E88. The ABB will probably go after us on sight out of principal; I can protect you and handle normal thugs fine, but there's absolutely no way that Lung will let me go into his territory unchallenged - not after yesterday."

Of course, with my disguise I wouldn't stand out, but I wasn't about to test my powers wearing my civilian guise; and while my early morning sunbathing had certainly rejuvenated me, I really wasn't in shape for another fight with someone on Lung's level. Especially if Taylor was nearby and I had to worry about collateral damage.

The disappointment was clear in Taylor's eyes, but I had to give the girl credit. She took the dismissal as a challenge instead of a defeat. "What about near my dad's office? There are plenty of old warehouses not in use, and the area is relatively safe thanks to Union security. Or if that's not an option, we could go to the mountains. There's plenty of open and empty space with no gang presence to worry about."

Danny shook his head, "The area around my office doesn't see a lot official work anymore, but there are people squatting there. Someone would notice a Cape in action. The mountains could work, but that's at least an hour trip by bus, and no emergency services nearby."

I rubbed my chin, "Actually, getting there shouldn't be an issue. I'm not as fast as I could be, but I could easily carry Taylor to the mountains; it would only take a few minutes for me to run there. And there's no wild animal that could possibly hurt either of us while I'm there."

Taylor paused and gawked at me, "I'm… sorry. Can you run that by me again?"

"Is that safe?" Danny added.

I nodded, "Perfectly. I… well it's complicated. But if I'm touching something, it becomes more durable; it's why I'm able to lift things that would otherwise collapse under their own weight if I did, and why the ground doesn't give way under my feet when I do. As long as Taylor holds on tight, she won't have to worry about a thing."

Danny rubbed his chin and his brow narrowed in thought. Taylor looked between him and I, then at the clock. She coughed into her hand, "Um dad, you're running late?"

He looked up at the clock, and silently cursed. "Damn. Okay, if you two are going to do that, please, be careful."

"I swear, I won't let any harm come to your daughter, Danny." I promised.

That seemed to mollify the man, and he left shortly after, his truck grumbling out the driveway. Once he was gone, Taylor looked at me expectantly, "So, you were… being serious?"

I smiled sweetly, "Of course. Let me just get showered and changed, and we can head out. Though, you might want something to hide your face, just in case. The fewer people that connect us together, the safer you'll be."

After a quick shower, I changed into my costume and slid a simple civilian guise over it, plain white blouse and dark skirt, with my hair pulled up into a ponytail. By then, Taylor had dressed in a loose hoodie and baggy jeans, and had a dark red bandana tied around her neck. We took a bus to one of the more deserted areas of the city somewhere between her house and the docks.

It was a quick run behind an alley after, where I changed into my costume, and smiled at her. "Alright, you ready?"

Taylor pulled up the bandana and hood, and her eyes flashed with nervousness. "Well, no. But it's better than sitting at home going over school work."

"That's the spirit, " I laughed, and before she could protest, I scooped her up into my arms bridal style.

Taylor yelped and glared at me, which made me laugh again, "It's either this, or I give you a piggyback ride out of the city. Which sounds more comfortable?"

She crossed her arms and stewed beneath her makeshift mask, "Just go already." I ignored the second half of her sentence that she muttered under her breath. She was fifteen, moodiness was not only expected but the norm.

Now, I knew I wasn't as fast as I could've been, but that only meant I lacked the supersonic speeds that I could normally reach. I was still much, much faster than any production vehicle. Once Taylor was secure, I took off, and she grabbed onto me tightly, letting loose a dozen different curses, some I'd never heard before. The world melted around the both of us into a blur of grey and blue, the sounds of the city vanishing beneath the roar of the wind and the steady rhythm of my boots slamming against the concrete. I was careful to avoid any pedestrians in our way, which slowed us a little. On one or two occasions, I had to make a leap over a busy street, which made Taylor yell and bury her head in my chest. By the time people realized what had happened, I was gone and further out of the city.

Soon, the urban grey turned into a forested green as we left Brockton behind. Brush and trees became more common and soon I was plowing through the undergrowth without even slowing. I wasn't picky about finding an area to practice, if only because I worried about Taylor who had to be sore after clinging to me for a solid five minutes. Finally, I found us a lightly wooded area, where early morning sunlight lit up the trees and brush with a soft golden glow. The sound of nature had completely overtaken any urban noise I might've heard and I won't lie, I enjoyed the brief moment of silence. I came to a stop in the middle of a clearing, and released Taylor. She continued hanging to my neck, eyes squeezed shut; only after I reached up and started pulling her hands free, did they open and she realized we had come to a stop.

She stumbled to the ground onto her knees, and pulled her hood and bandana off, "H-holy shit! How do you see or do anything when you're moving that fast?"

I shrugged, and offered her a hand, "Enhanced reflexes. Besides, I can go much faster than that, or will be able to once my powers are working again. Are you okay?"

Taylor took my hand and rose shakily to her feet. She nodded, but kept her eyes on the ground; her face was flushed and I could hear her heart hammering in her chest. It was a common reaction, especially from people who had never experienced super speed before.

"Will you be okay for the return trip?"

She looked up at me, and bit her lip, "Y-yeah. I'll be fine by the time we've finished here…"

A deep breath, and Taylor looked around, "So, what exactly are we going to do here? You've been vague about that."

"Good question," I said as I rolled my shoulders and started walking around the edge of the meadow. I kicked my foot against the ground and felt the heavy resistance of a large boulder sunken into the ground.

A smirk pulled at my lips, and I crouched down, digging a hand into the dirt until I could get a good grip on the boulder. "Mostly," I grunted, and started to pull, "we're just going to get a handle on what… my current limits are."

With one heave, I pulled a boulder the size of the van Lung had crushed me with free from the earth in a shower of dirt. Animals screamed in surprise at the sudden racket and the forest grew very quiet. I hefted the boulder, which had to way at least five or six tons, overhead with one arm and held it there.

Taylor had wisely backed away when she saw what I was doing, and openly gawked at my display of strength. I couldn't resist smiling, and bounced the boulder on the palm of my hand. "And this, my friend, is why I was sunbathing on your roof. I'm at least twice as powerful as I was when I first arrived here."

I slowly lowered the boulder and grabbed it with both hands; I tensed the muscles in my arms and backs, and shoved against oversized rock as hard as I could. I had expected to send it flying thirty or forty feet. Instead, the two of us watched it vanish over the forest canopy, and felt the earth beneath our feet shake from its landing a moment later. Again, Taylor gawked at me; I won't deny, I returned her expression with a look of surprise.

"Well then…" I said slowly, and started dusting off my hands, "That's why we're here. Are you ready to begin?"

* * *

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time can move when you're enjoying yourself. After a few minutes of brainstorming and adjusting to the situation, Taylor took to my testing with that newfound enthusiasm that seemed to possess her whenever Capes were involved. We spent hours pushing my powers to their limits, which was admittedly a bit difficult considering that my powers notably changed as the day went by.

Weight lifting had suggested at first I could handle ten tons before I risked being overwhelmed by sheer mass. By noon, that number had risen to fourteen. After setting up a 100 meter circuit in the clearing, we thought my speed was about 250 KMH at first; as time passed though, this was upped to a solid 360 KMH, or 223 MPH according to Taylor. My senses were growing ever stronger, but without proper equipment, measuring the strength of those was an exercise in futility; the best we could determine is that my range was about five or six miles in hearing, and I could use my microscopic vision to give myself a 10x zoom on anything I focused on.

This all went by without much of a hitch, but then we hit the durability test. Self harm isn't exactly a practice I was interested in indulging in, and when I asked Taylor if she was willing to see how durable I was, she had been reluctant. I had been forced to logically explain why it was necessary, as she seemed to be developing an active immunity to my puppy dog eyes. Thankfully, logic was as effective a method, and soon I was standing with my arms spread while Taylor hefted a large branch in her hands.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

I nodded, and she swung at my head. The branch bounced off my skull and Taylor stumbled backwards. "You okay?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "Yeah, this branch is kinda heavy. Let me try again?"

I waited, and after she caught her breath, she swung at my side this time, with the same result. I lowered my arms and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Taylor leaned forward, hands on her legs and glared up at me.

"Don't look at me like that; so I'm not in the best shape, I'm not exactly blessed with your superhuman physique."

That was fair, and I wasn't in any position to rag on somebody about their strength. That said, Taylor was thin as a rail, so I probably should have expected this. So needless to say, durability testing was out.

The hours carried on like that, as Taylor devised new ways to test my powers in unique ways that I hadn't considered. The girl was incredibly clever at peering into the details of a situation and pulling out a solution. I wouldn't have put her on the level of someone like Batman, but she was thorough which more than covered for it. It was a shame she had no powers: I could only imagine what she might've done for the world if she hadn't been dealt a bad hand.

At around eleven, we realized we had tested all there was to test (also, both of us were hungry) and so I had let Taylor decide what we would do for lunch before I took her back to her home and headed off to the PRT HQ. Taylor's taste in food, however, left something to be desired.

I had not expected or wanted to go back to Fugly Bobs after waking up in its dumpster; but a promise was a promise. Thankfully, my sense of smell hadn't seen much improvement yet, so I didn't have to deal with the scent of grease and oil, because even to a normal sense of smell it was overpowering.

Taylor seemed to like the place though, so there we sat with burgers that were way too greasy, fries that were practically buried in salt, and with soft drinks that could give a cow a heart attack.

I watched as Taylor happily ate, and wondered aloud, "Where on earth do you put it all?"

She swallowed and smiled guiltily, "Both my parents were skinny, and I was lucky enough to inherit their metabolism."

Although she was enjoying her meal, I was a bit more apprehensive and was content to slowly nibble on it. Kal would've loved a place like this, he had a taste for greasy Earth foods. I had never completely adapted to them, and I wasn't sure I ever would. And if I did, it could be some time before I could ever join my cousin at one again. The momentary homesickness caught me by surprise - I missed Kal and my friends from my Earth.

I must've let some of this show, because Taylor paused (or rather, finished) her burger and looked at me concerned, "Something on your mind?"

"Well…" I sighed, I wasn't going to tell her how much I missed my home. How I was throwing myself into the hero work so I didn't have to think about why I was on Earth Bet in the first place; or if anyone at home even knew where to look for me. Taylor had been kind to me. She and her father had opened their home to me and I thought we were starting to become friends. But, the problems I would have to deal with were far beyond the scope of a fifteen year old girl She'd had enough to worry about over the past few days, I wasn't going to add to it with my own insecurities.

"I'm just thinking about how the rest of the day is going to go. Everyone was vague about what comes after I sign, so I'm just thinking about what I should bring."

Taylor glanced around the restaurant. The lunch rush was just starting, and no one was sparing us a second glance as we talked and ate. Still, she kept her voice quiet when she spoke, "Are you sure you really want to work there? I mean, the Protectorate does good work, but I can't imagine the red tape will be fun to deal with."

I shrugged, "There's nothing to stop me from quitting, I checked and double checked that. If I find anything I really disagree with, I'll walk out the door."

Taylor nodded, and took a sip from her soda, then asked, "Are you thinking of bringing those costume designs?"

"Maybe. Although if I wanted to make them go blind-"

Taylor tossed a fry at my face, and I broke down into giggles. "Don't be mean!" she scolded, through a half-formed smile.

"I'm just saying, when I told you to get creative, I hadn't expected you to be that creative." I laughed.

"Don't make me grab another french fry." she threatened.

Quicker than she could see, I grabbed several off her tray and tossed one so it landed right between her eyes and bounced to the floor. She frowned, and leaned forward, "I'll have you know; this means war."

I grabbed a handful of fries and smirked at her, "Bring it on Hebert, lets see what you've got!"

* * *

Taylor went home without complaint and a dozen french fries stuck in her hair and down her shirt. I was still picking out a few by the time I left the Hebert household, and I hoped that no one would notice that I smelled like grease-fried potatoes and salt. I made sure to bring the contract with me, and those costume designs. I teased her, but I did like most of the designs, even if they weren't my style. Taylor seemed to prefer a more armored aesthetic, which while certainly interesting to look at, didn't fit the sort of look I was going for. Still, some of the color schemes were actually good - tactical preferences aside, Taylor had an excellent grasp of design (bar one or two garish exceptions - I suspect that she was mostly kidding). It couldn't hurt to run them by the PRT anyway, they could look better when finished as opposed to on paper.

I didn't head straight to the PRT HQ, instead I went to an address that Armsmaster had given me the previous day and told me to go to. It lead to a car rental agency, at least, that's what it looked like. After ditching my glasses as discreetly as possible, I went inside and told them the code that Armsmaster had given me. As it turned out, the rental agency was actually a front for a covert PRT transportation division. Once I gave them the code, they ushered me into a nondescript white van and drove me to PRT HQ. Of course, in my experience, white vans weren't exactly discreet since very few people actually drove completely featureless white vans unless they were hiding something. Maybe that was different on this Earth.

The van parked in the HQ's parking garage, where I was greeted by Miss Militia in full costume. "Supergirl, glad to see you're doing well." she said as we shook hands.

"Likewise Miss Militia."

We took an elevator to the upper floors, and returned to the room where Director Piggot Armsmaster and I had discussed the details of the contract. I was surprised to see only Armsmaster inside, standing exactly where he had last time. A for consistency, I supposed.

He nodded at me, what little of his face I could see impassive, "Supergirl, welcome back."

I took a seat at the end of the table and set the contract down, "Thank you Armsmaster. I've reviewed the contract you gave me." I informed him. Today, I was going to be all business; pleasantries could come later. Maybe; I had the feeling that the time for pleasantries with the man would be 'never', but that was hardly an issue for me.

Another nod from Armsmaster, "We will discuss your contract in full when the Director arrives. She's currently engaged in a conference call with the local BPD."

Fair enough, she was in charge of all superhuman activities in Brockton, so it stood to reason that she could get caught up by the day to day affairs. Armsmaster looked past me at Miss Militia, and tilted his head forward slightly. I heard the door shut behind us, leaving me alone with the man.

Armsmaster let out a breath I hadn't realized he was holding, and looked directly at me, though I couldn't see his face through his mask's visor, "Supergirl, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Specifically for both mine and the director's behavior. Despite the constant difficulties the PRT and Protectorate face in keeping Brockton Bay safe, it was no excuse for our attitude or treatment of you. I want to make it clear that our goal is ultimately to help you and any other parahuman in Brockton Bay to realize their full potential."

I could certainly understand stress turning someone's attitude sour, and I appreciated the apology and acknowledgement from Armsmaster. It was easy to see that admitting to fault wasn't easy for him. In fact, it was clearly so difficult that I could hear, faintly, someone feeding him lines through an earpiece in his helmet. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were speaking at a similar pace to Armsmaster.

"Your apology is accepted, Armsmaster," I told him, genuine in my statement.

Then I added, "But, I'd like to meet who wrote it for you, if that's not too much trouble to ask."

He made a small choking sound in the back of his throat, and his earpiece went silent. A moment later, a speaker from the corner of the room crackled to life and a woman's voice spoke to me.

"Sorry Supergirl, Armsmaster isn't great with people; his desire to make amends was genuine, but as his friend, I was just trying to help him. My name is Dragon, I'm a Tinker that works with the PRT and Protectorate. And I'd like to know how you knew I was talking to Armsmaster."

I nodded, "Yes, I've heard of you. It's a pleasure to meet you Dragon, so to speak. As for how I knew you were talking to him, I have super hearing; I heard you feeding him lines. That said, I'm surprised you've taken an interest in my case. Aren't you stationed in Canada?"

Dragon chuckled, "The Guild has a lengthy association with the PRT and the Protectorate. I try to take an interest in all capes that join up, but especially in Brockton Bay, and I understand that yesterday was a bit rough for you."

I shrugged, "It wasn't great. But why an interest in Brockton superhumans specifically?"

There was a pause, and I heard Armsmaster's earpiece buzz. He grunted, and Dragon spoke up, "I'll be honest with you, Supergirl. Brockton isn't in the best shape. The Protectorate here are good, really good, but they lack numbers. They can't be everywhere at once, and for every crime they stop, another - often several - goes by unimpeded elsewhere. The Protectorate needs more heroes, is what I'm saying. And you seem to fit the bill."

I drummed my fingers against the table, and sighed. By Rao, I knew I was going to regret this.

"Well, I've got good news for both of you." I reached forward and grabbed a pen from the center of the table. "I've decided to sign. You're right of course, Dragon. I saw what the gangs do to one another, what they're willing to do to win. Innocents are going to be caught in the crossfires if they aren't stopped; and I'm not strong enough to stop any of the gangs alone."

I began flipping through the contract and began writing in the margins. After a minute of this, I pushed the contract towards Armsmaster, who picked it up and began scanning through it, "If my stipulations are met," I told him, "Then I'll sign, and join Brockton Bay Protectorate."

Armsmaster placed the document back on the table, and pressed a finger to the side of his helmet. Again his earpiece buzzed and I heard a new woman's voice, Piggot's if I had to guess.

"Yes ma'am," he said, "I sent you a copy with the highlighted stipulations. Just waiting for your thoughts."

There were several minutes of silence as I assumed she read through my demands. Said demands were fairly simple; an actual identity, free access to patrol whenever I wanted or was available, and permission to at the very least, operate in other PRT protected cities without the need to request a transfer. That last one would likely be the hardest to get through if only because of the headache it would cause paperwork-wise. The other stipulations, I felt, were more than reasonable.

Finally, after a good ten minutes of silence, the conference room opened again and Piggot walked inside. She looked tired, and her shoulders hung low; she didn't so much sit in her chair as she did collapse into it. She looked at me with tired eyes, and leaned forward.

"You'll need to put in requests to operate in other PRT protected cities. However, we can streamline the process to give you priority. The rest of these changes are agreeable, if you sign and agree to a thirty day probationary period."

I folded my arms, "Which entails?"

"No solo patrols; you can only patrol with another member of the Protectorate. You'll be watched closely and if you are caught committing any crimes, you will not only be ejected from the Protectorate, but arrested for violation of your probation. You will still receive payment and benefits during this time, but you will lack the freedom you want in your conditions until after the probation is over."

That seemed counterintuitive to what I wanted. If I was going to be forced to do duo patrols, that could prevent me from helping in crimes I ran across when 'off duty'. I voiced as much to her and Piggot nodded understandingly, "If you are off duty and come across a crime in progress, report it first, then intervene. You must understand, Supergirl; we know very little about you or your motives. You have been helpful, but you also nearly brought down an entire building after engaging Lung. We need to see how trustworthy you are and if you can live up to the standards of the Protectorate. That's fair, is it not?"

I sighed, and rested my chin in my fist, "Trust is a two way street. I suppose it is fair. Will I be able to start patrolling today?"

"If you sign, Miss Militia will tour you through the building, and you will meet the rest of the Protectorate. From there, you will be assigned to one member shadow for a patrol. So in short, yes."

"Okay," I nodded, and pulled the contract back to me, "let's get to it then."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late chapter. Last week was insane, funeral, dad was in the hospital (He's fine now), and then my birthday weekend all popped up at once, leaving me little time to work on this chapter. I technically finished it last night, but wanted my editors to look it over first before I dropped it. Hopefully that made the difference, but I wouldn't be surprised if we still missed something. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what your thoughts are, and I'll see you all on Friday!**


	9. Chapter 7

**Orientation 2.2**

_Kara _

Now that I was officially signed in as a probationary member of the Protectorate, Piggot wasted no time in having me oriented to things in the Protectorate. I was blasted with standard protocols from Armsmaster for a solid hour, given a rapid fire tour by Miss Militia that she tried to make as informative as possible, and only had a moment's time to drop off my costume designs with the PR Department. Evidently, the head of PR had deemed my current costume 'acceptable for public appearances'.

It had better be, I put a lot of effort into it!

I picked up pretty quickly that despite her cold attitude, the Director was in a hurry to get me onto the streets; when Armsmaster had finished with me, the man had vanished and I heard his motorcycle roar out of the garage minutes later. As far as I could tell - or more to the point hear - Miss Militia and I were the only heroes in the PRT HQ, and I questioned her about it after she had finished giving me the nickel tour.

She sighed and leaned against the nearest wall, rubbing her temples. "The gangs are tense, especially after Lung's attack yesterday. If you hadn't intervened and made him retreat, we're pretty sure things would've escalated into a brief but very intense gang war. So you have my thanks for stopping that."

A twinge ran across my back and I resisted the urge to scratch it. I focused on Miss Militia and said, "So most of the Protectorate is on patrol right now then?"

She nodded, "Velocity is patrolling the city limits for weapon shipments, Armsmaster is watching the Docks, Dauntless is in charge of Downtown, and Assault and Battery fill in where they're needed. The Wards will be joining us later tonight, but they're still in classes at the moment."

The Wards, from what I understood, were the Protectorates equivalent of the Teen Titans back on my Earth. Teenagers with powers of their own working under the tutelage of the adult heroes until they turned eighteen. If I were a year younger, I would've been forced to join them instead, which would've been a hard no from me.

Just thinking about going through all that drama again was enough to give me a minor headache. I ignored it and asked, "So, are we patrolling together then?"

She and Velocity were both nice and I'd be more than happy to patrol with either one of them. Sadly, Miss Militia shook her head, and gestured for me to follow her. "I would, if I could Supergirl. I have to head to the Rig after we're done here; the Wards are being moved under my jurisdiction, and are operating from there permanently now. It's safer than here thanks to its remote location, and I have duties there I need to complete. You'll be working with Assault and Battery today, starting in Downtown and moving your way up to the Boardwalk."

Well at least I knew the route I'd be taking today, and with whom. I'd read about the heroes serving at East-North-East, which had been confusing that everyone kept calling it ENE until a trooper had helpfully whispered the meaning to me. Assault and Battery were interesting: They were a power couple of some kind, though no one knew if they were actually together or not. The former could absorb and manipulate kinetic energy, and the latter could 'charge' herself for short periods of time, enhancing her strength and speed to superhuman levels. Not a bad pair to start out with, and it would be nice to meet more of the Protectorate, I decided.

Before she took me to meet the pair, we stopped briefly at the armory. I had no interest in the rows of guns and body armor that most members of the PRT used; most of the Protectorate didn't use them, save for the restraints and body armor if in an emergency. I decided against handcuffs, opting for zip ties and a pair of containment foam grenades instead. If I could take normal humans out of a fight without even having to punch them, I'd take it; I'd rather save my powers for someone who could match them, rather than risk hurting someone who couldn't. I had expected an objection to that last choice, but when I thought about it, short of hurling the small devices at someone, it would be all but impossible to hurt anyone with them.

Miss Militia handed me a new earpiece, and I noticed that this one was sturdier than the one Velocity had given me. When I studied it, she explained, "The one you were given yesterday was for emergencies, or in case one of us run into new capes. They're cheap and reliable, but not very durable. You could drop a car on these, and they'd still work fine."

I grinned and pushed it into my ear. The earpiece buzzed, and I heard Dragon's voice crackle over the comm. "Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3."

"Hello, Dragon." I said. "Come to see me off?"

"So to speak," the woman chuckled, "I have other business coming up, but I'd figured I'd say a proper goodbye before bowing out. Make sure to take it easy out there kid; the last thing you want is to hurt yourself as badly as last time."

I felt a little annoyed by her concern, but pushed it down. Dragon meant well, and there was no harm in her warning. Even if I wasn't a rookie anymore and was more than capable of taking care of myself. I flinched, the headache was back; I angrily shoved it aside and took a deep breath before replying to Dragon.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Hope to meet you again!"

"Likewise! Dragon out!"

* * *

We met my patrol-mates du jour on the roof of the PRT HQ, where the pair were waiting for us. Assault was a muscular man of average height and dressed in red body armor; a red visor covered the upper half of his face and I could see obvious laugh lines in his face. He was wearing a lazy grin when he saw us, and nudged Battery to get her attention.

She was an inch or two below average height, and wore a skintight dark grey costume that was highlighted along the collar, shoulders and gauntlets with white. Cobalt blue lines formed a circuit pattern along her arms legs and chests, following the curves of her body. She nudged Assault back, and the two of them approached us.

"Hey, you're the new girl right? I'm Assault, nice to meet you," he said as we shook hands, "I heard Lung flattened you yesterday."

I tightened my grip and smiled sweetly, pretending not to notice him wince, "You're not wrong; but I've got this really annoying habit of getting back up again after I've been knocked down."

When I released his hand, Assault rubbed at his knuckles, though his grin never left his face. Battery looked to the sky with a forlorn expression, then pushed him aside and shook my hand too, "Don't mind him, his mouth moves faster than his brain. My name's Battery, and what he meant was, if you're willing and able to fight Lung and live, then we're more than happy to have you on the team."

"Thanks, I'm glad to be here." I replied.

"Well then," Militia interjected, "now that you three are introduced, can I trust you to behave if I leave to go back to work?"

"I can't vouch for the ladies," Assault said, "But I can guarantee I will at least try to behave, unless I get bored."

Battery lightly slapped him upside the head and turned to Miss Militia, "We'll be fine ma'am."

She nodded, and turned to me, "Good luck Supergirl; and welcome to the Protectorate."

I waved goodbye to her as she left, and turned back to the duo; I rubbed my chin and smiled, "So, let me make sure I have this down correct. You're a kinetic manipulator, right?" I asked, pointing to Assault.

He smirked, "I can absorb kinetic energy that touches me or anything I'm touching, and redirect it; only if I'm aware of it, and I do have a limit. That being said, if Lung went full dragon and slapped me across the bay, I'd probably be in trouble. Or at least be leaving the state-"

"-Or continent," Battery cut in sardonically.

Assault didn't miss a beat. "Or that, yes - at speed." He shrugged. "It might be fun."

"I'll avoid using you as a club then," I said, which got a chuckle out of him.

I pointed at Battery, "And you can charge yourself to become stronger and faster, right?"

A flicker of blue electricity ran over her costume and she nodded, "I have a limit of about 12 seconds of charging before my body can't take it. I can also use it to direct electro-magnetically sensitive metals, but only small ones. No car chucking unfortunately."

"Or fortunately, depending on how you view collateral damage." Assault added. He gestured at me, "What about you, new girl? We know you went head to head with Lung, but what can you actually do?"

Battery nudged him and sent him a glare, "You were supposed to read the report from Armsmaster last night!"

He slapped his forehead, "Oh right, that! See, I did sit down to read it, but I kept getting distracted by the paint drying on the wall. Sorry."

Battery raised her hand as if to slap him again, and playfully grinned when Assault skipped sideways out of her reach. "Careful, or I'll file a harassment claim!" he warned in a tone that was far from serious.

"Too much paperwork, you'd get bored and walk off before you finished the first page." Battery replied.

"Not true, I'd ask you to - oh, you tricky girl." Assault laughed.

I politely coughed into my hand, hiding my grin; couple, definitely a couple. Brother and sister maybe, but the two looked nothing alike, there was no way they were related. They both looked back to me.

"Right, powers." Assault said. "So, what can you do?"

I glanced skyward toward the sun, and smiled, "I'm solar powered. The longer I stay in the sun, the more powerful and more powers I develop. It's multiplicative too, and it becomes easier for me to absorb solar energy the more I have and the longer I've stored it. Right now, I have super speed, strength, enhanced durability, and I can see and hear things several miles away."

Assault whistled, and I could see the wheels turning in Battery's head, no doubt thinking about the long term implications. Her partner said what she was probably thinking, "So, you're like Dauntless then, you just keep getting stronger and stronger. Dayum, we hit the jackpot with you!"

I rolled my eyes, "My powers can be drained if I use them at night, but even that takes a while. Moonlight is, afterall, is just reflected sunlight."

Battery covered Assault's mouth before he could ask another question, "No you don't mister. If you keep playing twenty questions with her, we'll be here all day. Let the suits figure out all the details of her powers, we've got a patrol to run."

Assault visibly drooped at that, "Puppy, sometimes you can be a real buzzkill."

"And yet here you are." She replied, and turned back to me. "Potential powers or not, are you ready to go?"

I rolled my shoulders and let a lazy grin spread over my face, "That depends, do you think you two can keep up?"

* * *

Ah, roofhopping, one of the most common methods of transport I'd seen back home for heroes on a budget. Given that normally I could fly, I didn't normally do a lot of parkour, but I did have fond memories of rooftop races with Barbara Gordon in Gotham. Those nights often started serious, and ended in a sleepover with lots of sugar and popcorn and the resulting sugar hangover the next day. I missed her; I missed my home.

It had only been two days, but already I felt homesick. I knew that it took time to find someone across a literally infinite Multiverse, but Kal had found me before under crazier circumstances. So why hadn't he found me yet? Thinking like that was completely irrational, and I tried to keep my mind focused on other things as I easily scaled buildings and held the lead over Assault and Battery.

The first half an hour or patrols didn't lead us to anything exciting except for a quickly foiled car thief in the middle of his next score. Assault had quickly gotten bored and was regaling me with a story of the time he had tried taking down Lung with another team, which had also ended in failure; I think he was doing it to make me feel better about the previous day's event. I won't deny, it did.

His story came to an end, when a sound caught my ear. I came to a stop atop a building and held up a hand. "What is it?" Battery asked.

It took a moment for me to focus on the string and follow it to its source. A thousand more crossed its path, tangling it into a knot I had to quickly and careful extract. Kal's training and personal experience made me a master at sifting through white noise until I found what I was looking for, but recklessness would mean I risked losing the sound entirely. As the old human saying went, slow and steady wins the race.

Of course, everything is relative, so what was slow to me was a matter of thirty seconds or so to Assault and Battery. When I did finally untangle the knot, I was bombarded with a man screaming in terror and two more yelling furiously at him.

"You keep screaming you fucking nigger, and we'll cut that throat out! Give us your fucking cash and your fucking keys now or we start breaking things!"

My lip curled in disgust, we were definitely still in Empire territory. "Sounds like a mugging about three blocks north of here; there are two men at least, maybe a third and definitely Empire thugs."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Assault was already on the edge of the roof, "Lets go crack some neo-nazi skulls!"

I was way ahead of him, of both of them. Battery yelled in surprise as I took off as a blur; jumps that were once beyond me the previous day, I made with practiced ease. I made it to the mugging within seconds. There was no point in trying to clamber down the building side, I simply dropped down and landed behind the muggers as silent as a ghost.

They were both pale men and had cornered a dark skinned man; there were small cuts on his cheeks and the taller or the two men had him pinned with his arm while the other held a knife to his throat with his right hand. It was obvious that they weren't after his money, and were getting their sick kicks from torturing the man to tears.

The man saw me, and seemed torn on whether or not I was there to save him, or help the neo-nazis. Blasted racist ideology. I cleared my throat, and the muggers froze. Slowly, they both turned around to look at me standing behind them with my arms folded. I barely raised a hand to wave at them.

"Alright guys, you've got one chance to let the poor man go. Trust me when I say that this is one fight you don't want to get involved in."

A moment of tense silence, broken only by their victims heavy breathing. The smaller E88 goon's hands shifted, and I saw the glint of metal in his left hand. Before I could call him on it, my headache returned in force, and I flinched.

Apparently, that was all the signal those two needed. The larger man released their victim and tackled me into the opposite alley wall while his buddy went to drive both knives into my stomach and collarbone respectively. The only reason they pulled this off, was because I was distracted by the fact that they'd both morphed into skeletal monsters.

Wait, that wasn't right.

I blinked as the knives shattered harmlessly against my skin, and grabbed both 'skeletons' by their wrists, and carefully pulled them off me until they were both yelping in surprise and pain. When I saw my own hands, that confirmed it; my x-ray vision had finally started working again. I spared a glance up, ignoring their cries of pain, and watched as the blue sky filtered through a thousand new colors. Beautiful auroras trailed across the city skyline, forming webs that even in a city as small as Brockton, were beautiful to look at in their complexity.

It wasn't just the x-ray vision that had returned, the entirety of my visual spectrum was fully operational!

Which, as nice and pretty as it was, wasn't really necessary for dealing with the crooks I was still holding. I closed my eyes for what good it did, and focused; controlling my vision wasn't quite the same as controlling my hearing. The muscles in my ears weren't as complex as those in my eyes, and so I had been forced to develop psychological methods to deal with the constant backlog of noise. True silence was something I hadn't experienced in over three years.

But, the advantage of living under a yellow sun was that precise neurological control it gave me, including the rods and cones in my eyes. To put it simply, I could essentially 'shut off' the parts of my eye responsible for my x-ray and electromagnetic vision at will to prevent visual feedback. I had gotten so adept at this, that after a moment, my vision returned to normal and the world returned to its original shades and shapes.

All three men were staring at me like I was crazy, which I was pretty sure wasn't true. I smiled sweetly at the two I had at my mercy and said, "Sorry, I was lost in thought. Now then, are you two ready to give up?"

I twisted their arms just a little harder (I was careful not to break them) until they both squealed. "Yes, we give up! God damn it!" the larger one yelled.

Immediately I released them both to the ground and dusted my hands off, "Good, now on your knees please."

By the time Assault and Battery caught up with me, both men were at the edge of the alley, hands zip tied behind their backs and kneeling. I was talking with their victim, and subtly scanning him for any internal injuries. Once I saw that he was fine internally, I looked him in the eyes and asked, "Are you going to need an escort home sir? This is Empire territory, and those idiots won't appreciate a man like you walking through it."

He shook his head, "N-no. I have a friend coming to pick me up at the end of the street. If you can just stick around until then, I'll be okay."

"We'll keep you safe until your friend gets here, sir." Battery answered for me.

The man jumped, only now noticing the pair of them, "O-oh! Assault and Battery! Is this cape with you?"

"New kid," Assault explained, jerking a thumb at me. I rolled my eyes and let him talk. "Just joined today, we're putting her through her paces. She seems to be keeping up well."

I let Assault take over talking with the man, and walked up to Battery; she was checking on the crooks while sending a report to the nearest BPD station. Given that these were normal criminals and not metahumans, it made sense to not get the PRT involved. Or was it the Protectorate? I was still getting the two organizations mixed up.

Once she finished, she looked to me with a smirk, "I take it these two didn't give you trouble?"

"Oh, they shanked me, but that didn't end well for them. All I had to do was twist their arms a little and they realized that it really wasn't worth fighting me over this." I looked past her at the two and added in a louder voice, "Isn't that right!?"

"Fuck you, cunt!" one of them hissed.

I turned back to Battery and smiled, "See? They're doing better already."

Despite my smile, Battery was rubbing her chin and looking between me and the crooks. "How'd they get close enough to even attack you? I thought you had enhanced reflexes."

Ah, there was the million dollar question. I rubbed my shoulder and tried not to shrug; briefly I considered keeping that detail to myself until we were in private, but decided against it. If these two crooks heard what I was saying, that might actually be for the better; let the criminal underworld know what was coming for them, maybe some of the smarter ones would turn themselves in.

"Well, remember how I said I get stronger the longer I'm in sunlight? I developed a new form of vision while I was apprehending them and caught me off guard. I'm fine now, but I definitely wasn't expecting it at the time."

Battery looked closer at me, her attention completely focused on me now. "Oh really? Do you mind if I ask what changed exactly?"

"Not at all. I can see basically every part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and I have x-ray vision now that lets me see through pretty much anything."

Assault took that moment to rejoin the conversation and promptly put himself between me and Battery, "Hey now, you better not be sneaking any peaks on Puppy with those see through the eyes of yours."

I paused, trying to figure out what he meant while Battery covered her face and sighed. Then I got his meaning, and felt my face flushed a deep red. "Nnonono! I would never- I mean its not like-! Oh jeez!"

I looked skyward and covered my eyes for all the good it did. The power of suggestion is mighty, and I did not intend to see that! Assault and Battery broke down into laughter, the latter smacking the former upside the head, "You dope, now you've got her doing it!"

"N-no! I'm not, I swear!" I looked back down, and then immediately looked up again, "Gah! Stop talking about it, please!"

And of course, the police took their sweet time showing up; sometimes it felt like the universe was out to get me.

* * *

Thoroughly embarrassed though I was, I did eventually reign my power back under control. That didn't help much with my embarrassment, and the snickering from all parties made sure I was going to remain as red as my cape for the rest of the afternoon. The cops were slow as ever to arrive, shortly after the mugging victim's friend showed up. He thanked me for saving him and I watched them go to make sure there were no more surprises. A police cruiser had shown up a minute later, and taken the two skinheads without further incident.

I refused to meet Battery's eyes after that, and made a conscious effort to ignore Assault's continuous snickering. We resumed patrol, with Battery in lead this time. About five minutes in, when Assaults laughter had finally ceased, I was surprised when we broke off from the planned route and headed toward the bay.

"Puppy, what's with the route change?" he asked as we ran.

Battery casually jumped a low brick wall and rolled to her feet on the neighboring building before she replied, "PRT thinks that one of the E88's dog fighting rings might be in this neighborhood. It's only a hunch, and we haven't had the resources to conduct a thorough investigation."

Assault landed next to her and slowed to a casual jog, "Okay, but that doesn't answer my question."

"I think Supergirls super senses could help us," Battery explained. "She was able to pick out the sound of that mugging no problem, and with her x-ray vision she could tell us exactly what to expect if we did find it."

I certainly couldn't fault her logic; that was certainly what I had planned on doing once I started solo patrolling. My focus had been on team building, I hadn't wanted to run off lone wolf. Yet.

"Well, how far are we?" I asked, easily catching up to the two.

Battery motioned up towards the Docks with her hand, "Somewhere on the border between ABB and E88 territory, that's all we know for the moment. Figured we'd run a two or three mile sweep and see what you can find."

Assault pounded his fist into an open palm and grinned, "Sounds good to me. Busting a few more nazi skulls in sounds like a great time."

Our course agreed on, Battery lead us to the described area, and it didn't take me long to pick up on a set of noises that definitely didn't fit into the usual sounds of Brockton. The sound of dogs baying quickly grabbed my attention and stole all of my focus. If I had to guess, there were at least a dozen, maybe more. I motioned for Assault and Battery to stop, and began pulling apart the knot.

This was even easier than the mugging, as the sound was so much more distinct than a pair of angry voices. I pointed toward what appeared to be a forgotten hole in the wall convenience store, and we slowly approached the building. I picked up voices as we approached, and informed Battery.

We all came to a rest two or three buildings south of the source; Assault lay on his stomach peering at the building over the ledge, while Battery was crouched next to him with a hand against her helmet and softly murmuring to Dispatch. I stood, arms folded and my cape flowing freely in the wind behind me, while focusing my eyes and ears on what I believed to be the building in question.

Layers of stone masonry melted away before my very eyes, and I could clearly pick up the buzz of a dozen men or so. Their voices were surprisingly muffled despite how close we were; most likely the building had some level of sound proofing. Unless they were in one of the truly abandoned districts of Brockton Bay, the sounds of two dogs being forced to tear each other apart would not escape public notice; and unfortunately or fortunately in this case, the ABB possessed most of the 'abandoned' districts of Brockton.

I tensed as I listened in, hating every word that came out of their mouths.

"What the fuck were you thinking? You have any idea how much it costs to breed a bitch like that!?" one man demanded, his voice a low rasp.

"We got the litter and we got more bitches to take care of them. The bitch went nuts and tried to attack us, you think I was just gonna let her rip my throat out?" another replied.

The first man growled angrily, "There's a difference between defending yourself and killing one of my dogs. You better be able to fucking pay for that, or you'll regret it."

"You'll get your money, don't worry." the second man assured him.

I didn't listen to the rest, I didn't need to; they had already succeeded in commanding my full attention, and I was one hundred percent certain that this building wouldn't be standing by the time I was done with them.

"I'm going in," I told my partners, and jumped off the building before they even had time to yell after me.

The buildings walls might have been made of stone mortar, but it practically detonated when I slammed my shoulder into it, Stone and debris exploded into an open room with a large metal cage setup in a circle in the center of it. Dogs started howling in a room over, and their kennels shuddered under the ruckus; I barely paid that any focus. My gaze was concentrated on the dozen men of the Empire 88 standing by the cage. Most of them turned to look at me in surprise; one didn't.

He was a big man, noticeably taller than the rest in the room, and shirtless. A metal wolf mask was tied to his face around greasy blonde hair, and there was a wolf superimposed on a swastika tattooed on one of his biceps. The other had an "E88 tattoo". When I looked past his mask with my x-ray vision, I saw that he had a very squat and flat face, with a nose that had been broken at one point and faint scars along his cheeks and lips. His blue eyes glared at me with annoyance more than anything else.

"You're all under arrest." I informed them. "Stand down now, and it'll make it easy for the rest of us."

The men chuckled nervously, save for the big man. He barked out a laugh and shoved past his men; he was obviously in charge. He stepped forward and looked at me, cocking his head to one side.

"You're the cape that saved a few of our boys from the fire those chink's started yesterday. I can respect that; pretty cute too. Tell you what girlie, you head back out through that little mess you made, and I'll forget this ever happened."

I stepped forward, slamming my foot down hard enough to crack the concrete beneath my boot. "Sorry, I don't negotiate with nazi's, or animal abusers. You're a a two for one deal, so that's going to be a hard no from me."

The man didn't laugh, and when he spoke I could hear the grin in his voice, "Well, I gave you a chance to back off. What comes next, well, that's on you."

He didn't so much explode as he just suddenly… changed. One moment, the man was there, the next a shifting mass of chains, hooks and blades had replaced him and began to rapidly grow. The other E88 mooks had spread out and away from him, as he slowly took form. A colossal metal wolf, easily the size of a large truck, rose up before me. Its fur filled with constantly shifting chains, and its maw a mess of razors and knives. I was reminded, briefly, of Lung and his own transformation.

Once, when I was first starting my career, running into a villain with powers similar to someone who had, admittedly, beaten the stuffing out of me might've made me hesitate or even scared me. But that was when I was an untested novice, and the planet as a whole beneath my feet was entirely unfamiliar to me.

Earth Bet may have been in a different dimension, but it was still Earth. And just like on my Earth, I wasn't afraid of a monster like this. This man, whoever he was, was a bully. More than likely he stood high in an organization that preached hatred and intolerance based on a person's skin color. What's more, it was clear he abused his power and position to force animals to kill each other for the entertainment of himself and others. A bully that happened to be made of knives, but a bully still.

And if there was one thing I couldn't stand, it was bullies. Which is probably why he was surprised when I charged at him, and leapt at his face, more than ready to rumble.

* * *

**A/N: Fuck this chapter and everything that went on around it while I was writing it. I had a half dozen different ideas for this chapter and ultimately had to scrap them to focus on other ones. Glory Girl had been penned for an appearance, as had the head of the Protectorate's PR Division. Ultimately, I decided to just focus on Assault and Battery and the setup for the fight with Hookwolf. Last thing I wanted was to bog the chapter down with too many characters, and I'm still not happy with it. Ugh, at least it's finally done and I can move on with my life. I'm going to try and get back on schedule and hopefully will be able to update on Friday again. The chapter isn't fully updated, as a headsup, so expect the edited version to go up sometime tomorrow. All that said, feel free to leave any comments to point out something I might've missed. **

**Hope y'all enjoyed it otherwise, and I'll (hopefully) see you on Friday!**


	10. Interlude 21

**Interlude 2.1 **

_Emily Piggot_

The beginning of a headache was beginning to form, and Emily Piggot had to restrain herself from rubbing at her temples, which would've been inappropriate for the moment. She could only take small comfort in the fact that at least she knew with complete certainty the source of her headache: Supergirl. The blonde Cape was sitting across from her in her office, her costume ditched in exchange for the more modest clothes she had been wearing when she arrived. As innocent and even kind as the girl seemed, Piggot's intuition told her that the day was merely the start of what was going to be a very long and frustrating working relationship.

Oh sure, at first glance the parahuman's activities were astounding for someone allegedly new to the Cape dynamic. She was strong, effective, and got along with most of the Protectorate; under better circumstances, Piggot would've been glad to have her under her command; as happy as she could be working with a parahuman, anyway. But, as always, the devil was in the details.

After Hookwolf's arrest, Assault and Battery had filed their verbal reports before resuming their patrol. Piggot had almost immediately after ordered Supergirl to the Rig for power testing. This, was the first of several problems that were the source of her headache.

It took a conscious effort not to glance at the hastily written report given to her by her assistant, detailing all the known powers Supergirl had exhibited, and their classifications: Brute 7, Mover 6, Shaker 3, a pending Thinker rating, and a Striker 3. All of which tied into the alleged source of her powers.

Piggot sighed and pushed the folder to Supergirl, who briefly scanned it and set it back down, a questioning brow raised. "Am I in trouble, Director?"

"Officially? No. It's your first day, and I'm willing to forgive mistakes from rookies." Piggot paused when she noticed a very subtle twitch from the young woman at the word 'rookie'. Interesting.

She continued, "However, there are several important matters I'd like to discuss. If Armsmaster was not occupied with a stakeout, I would leave some of these questions to him; as it is, I would rather handle the situation now instead of needlessly letting it fester."

Supergirl cocked her head to the side, "I don't understand, I've done everything I was asked to. If this is about me charging in to fight Hookwolf, I-"

Piggot cut her off with a raised hand, "No, it's not about that. Not primarily, anyway." she thumped a finger against the folder, "No, while that was very reckless of you, like I said, I can forgive mistakes on the first day, minor ones like that anyway. However, I would like to know why you kept information on your powers a secret from us, but gladly told Assault and Battery."

A frown from the girl, "I did tell you what I could do. I just… didn't mention all of it. No one asked, and at the time it didn't seem important. You did drop a lot on my plate in a very short period of time."

Damn it. Piggot sighed, "Fair. But keep this in mind now, Supergirl. Had we known about this sooner, I wouldn't have sent you in the field today. If your power builds like you claim it does, the Protectorate would have kept you in reserve. An ability like yours is incredibly rare and powerful; now that it's known, other regional teams are going to take a key interest in what goes on here."

"I'm not going to sit back and let people die, Director." Supergirl's voice was stern and her face twisted into a scowl. It was an expression, Piggot noted, that really didn't fit the girl.

Piggot regarded her, and thought on what she had seen and her subordinates had reported. Screw appropriate; she reached up and massaged her temples, "No, I suppose you wouldn't. I shouldn't be surprised, you took on the costume of one of the biggest boy scouts in fiction."

Supergirl put her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly, "Ma'am, with all due respect, this city is dying. I can hear it. Taking down Hookwolf sent a message to all the criminals in Brockton; they're laying low, they're afraid to act now. Are you seriously telling me that an absence of crime is a bad thing?"

"I'm saying I'd rather have you at your absolute strongest, because as long as someone like Lung is running around, you're not the top dog around here; you're not the actual Supergirl, despite the similarity of your looks and powers."

That seemed to strike home; Supergirl leaned back in her chair, folded her arms and closed her eyes tightly. Piggot let her regain her composure; there was no point hammering the girl, not yet. Finally, Supergirl opened her eyes again and said, in a quiet voice, "Fine, I see your point even if I don't agree with it. Are you going to make me sit out patrols now?"

Piggot shook her head, "If I'd known about your powers earlier today, in full, then I would have demanded you be benched. As it is, every criminal in Brockton Bay knows about you now. You fought Lung one on one and survived, and the next day knocked out one of the Empire's heaviest hitters. If we pulled you back now, they would see it as a weakness, and we can't afford to look weak."

Despite herself, a small smile tugged at the Emily's lips, "Which segues nicely into my next point, which you are absolutely in trouble for."

She placed both hands on her desk and rose to her feet, "What in the hell possessed you to talk to the media!"

As if struck, Supergirl leaned back in surprise, "Wha- I… Assault and Battery were busy. News vans were pulling up, I wanted to prevent a scene. The people, at the very least, deserve to know what's happening in their own city."

Damn it. Damn, damn, damn it! Why couldn't this girl be a glory hog like Armsmaster!? It was one thing dealing with a man that possessed an ego larger than Behemoth, it was another dealing with a genuine idealist. She could drag the former down a notch or two, but the latter wouldn't listen if her conviction was strong enough.

Thankfully, Emily thought ruefully, Supergirl also seemed to be, if not rational, logical. And she had all the ammunition she needed to deal with a logical person. Slowly, she slid back down into her seat, letting her substantial weight settle into her seat with a groan.

"One," Piggot started counting on her fingers, "we have not publicly announced your admission to the Protectorate. We prefer to introduce new Capes in a safe and controlled environment, to prevent any PR incidents. Were it not for Lungs actions yesterday, I would have spent a solid week simply having the boys in PR preparing you for that."

Supergirl made no effort to hide her evident disgust with that. "Oh, fun." she said dryly.

Emily ignored her, and continued, "Two, standard procedure is to let the senior member handle PR talks, or have a designated speaker. Bare minimum, you should've asked Assault or Battery for permission before engaging with the media. This one I can't blame entirely on you, both of them will certainly get an earful for not telling you this. Finally, we have reason number three; you took an interview with Channel Twelve News."

A look of dawning horror and comprehension took over Supergirls face, "Oh… oh no. They're a tabloid, aren't they? I just walked right into a PR trap."

Emily couldn't deny, she enjoyed a little schadenfreude, especially in light of her headache. She pressed a button by her keyboard, and the screen hanging on the side of her office flickered to life with the evening's recorded broadcast from channel twelve.

A man with a strong jaw and high cheekbones appeared on screen in a well tailored brown suit. He had a few lines on his face, and his hair was just beginning to shrink back along his scalp. A thick brown mustache dominated his lips, and his eyes held a surprisingly steely gaze.

He smiled for the camera, and said, _"This is Donny Vermillion, live from BBN studio, with your evening cape report. Tonight, terror in the streets as Brockton Bay. Fresh faced rogue Supergirl was reported engaging Empire Cape Hookwolf in downtown Brockton, leaving a wave of devastation in her wake."_

Supergirls face twisted in frustration and she made a disgusted noise in her throat, but she didn't say anything.

_"Coming to us with the first hand report from on scene is our very own Kate Lockwell, reporting live from the scene of the crime."_

The screen switched to show the woman, the ruined building behind her,_ "Thank's Donny. The citizens of Brockton were startled today when sounds of violence and gunshots were reported. The PRT was fast to respond, in time to arrest local Empire heavy, Hookwolf, after his apprehension by the newest member of the Protectorate, Supergirl-"_

Immediately, the scene shifted so that Donny and Kate were both on screen, though Donny notably dominated the screen,_ "So the Protectorate has taken yet another rogue under their wing? Truly their disregard for public safety is shocking, Kate."_

_"Actually, Donny,"_ Kate said,_ "Witness reports have noted that collateral damage is surprisingly low, and in fact, Supergirl herself said that she engaged Hookwolf by surprise to -"_

Again, he interrupted her,_ "Shocking, truly shocking. Did they even have a warrant for his arrest? Just cause?"  
_

Kate paused for a moment, _"Well, yes and no. Supergirl has enhanced senses that let her hear- actually, I have footage from the interview-"_

A third interruption from Donny, while Kates screen vanished all together, _"I think we've all heard enough, Kate. Thank you for that informative report; well, you heard it hear first folks. the Protectorate, recruiting violent parahumans to keep an even closer eye on you. Up next, 'Armsmaster, dedicated Protectorate Cape, or android duplicate?'."_

Piggot ended the report and turned back to Supergirl. She didn't need to say anything, it was obvious from the expression on her face that the message was clear. Supergirl had sunk low into her seat and had her face covered, cursing silently into her hands. The lesson to take away was obvious; she knew nothing about the reporters in Brockton Bay, and would need to be more careful with who she talked to, or they'd simply use it as fuel for whatever fire they were burning.

When Supergirl finished cursing, Piggot said, "Consider yourself very lucky that BBN is notoriously incompetent. Any other news station would've doctored the interview to make you come off as an unhinged psychopath."

The girl sighed and rubbed the side of her head, "But, I take it you still want me to go to the PR Department?"

"Better safe than sorry."

* * *

_Kate Lockwell_

"Motherfucker!" Kate Lockwell kicked a piece of broken asphalt back under the caution tape, irritating the PRT troopers still cleaning up the mess. She ignored them and continued cursing out her frustration. Her cameraman, who had long since grown used to this, didn't even bother consoling her. He was already back at their van by the time Kate had calmed down and collected herself.

She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and started stomping back to the van, steaming over her entire situation. An entire interview thrown in the trash and her segment used to throw another cape under the bus. At this rate, she was starting to wonder why she bothered anymore.

It hadn't always been like that. Once, the BBN had been a respected source of news in Brockton Bay. They didn't report on international news, they were local, but Kate had taken pride in her honest work, making sure the people of Brockton knew what was going on in the city. Everyday Brockton was getting more and more dangerous, but Kate knew that her stories could help steer people away from the most dangerous areas, and maybe even comfort them.

That was years ago though; there had been a change in management, and the new men in charge didn't give a damn about the truth. All they cared about were ratings and pushing an agenda that was honestly baffling. One day Donny would praise the Protectorate for its actions, and the next he was condemning it for those very same actions. There was no rhyme or reason to it, and many of her former colleagues had left long ago out of protest or in search of greener pastures.

But not Kate, no she had stayed. An outsider would think, no, she knew they would say, that she stayed at the BBN out of stubbornness. This was only half true. The full truth was slightly more complicated and personal.

Once, Donny Vermillion had been Kate's mentor. Everything she knew about reporting, her drive, her questions, even her intuition as a reporter, she had learned or modeled off of him. When she was new, just an intern trying to find her place at BBN, he had honestly and earnestly took her under his wing. There had been rumors that he was grooming her to replace him when he retired. When the new management took over, Donny had been with her, standing against their bullshit practices and trying his best to report the truth despite them making his life hell. That had lasted all of a month before the accident. Faulty brakes on a bush had seen Donny's brother killed, and the man had never fully recovered. His drive had died with his brother, along with the man she had once looked up to.

She couldn't leave though, not after that. The staff, those who had stayed in spite of the changes, depended on her. As frustrated as she was, Kate kept her drive, she kept pushing for the truth, and most importantly, she wouldn't abandon the friends she had at BBN. Donny might be broken, but Kate wasn't.

The van creaked as she got in the passenger side door. Her cameraman, the fourth she'd had over the last year, was silent in the back. Their driver looked at her, brow raised, "Nice temper tantrum. Donny pull a cutoff on you again?"

Kate pinched her nose and sighed, "I don't want to talk about it. Can we stop for food before we can get back? I had a full half hour segment scheduled, and it's in pieces now."

Her driver shrugged, "Fugly Bob's sound good?"

She sank into her seat, "No, but when was the last time I got what I wanted?"

* * *

**A/N: Little interlude to deal with the fallout. Piggot wound up being far more reasonable than I originally had planned, but I think that was for the best overall. I should still be able to keep to my schedule, so we'll have a complete chapter come Friday. Hope y'all enjoyed the interlude, see you then!**


	11. Chapter 8

**Orientation 2.4**

_Kara Zor-El_

I finally returned to the Hebert Household at around nine at night. The PRT had been kind enough to offer me full room and board now that I was an official member, but I didn't want to simply abandon Taylor and her father, and a phone call would have been too impersonal. Yes, I still felt indebted to them for taking me in where I had nowhere to go - how could I not? Besides, Taylor was a nice kid and it was obvious that she was painfully lonely; I knew all too well how that felt.

When I walked in, I bit my fist and had to try hard not to squeal with delight at what I saw; it was adorable! The living room TV was on, and a movie I didn't recognize had finished and was playing the main menu over and over again. Danny was asleep on the couch, one leg resting on the table and a blanket barely hanging off said limb. Taylor was curled up against his side, also asleep, with his arm protectively wrapped around her.

Oh Rao, oh Rao! Too precious!

I quietly shut the door behind me and made my way around them, with the guest room as my destination; there was no way I would interrupt such a precious moment! At the last moment, I stopped, and glanced at the blanket on the floor. I sighed, and went back around the couch and grabbed it, draping it gently over the father and daughter as gently as possible.

Danny stirred and grabbed my arm with his free hand, "Annette…? Welcome home…" he said drearily, his eyes still closed.

Oh… blast.

I gently pulled his hand free, and his eyes fluttered open. He took one look at me, and his face flushed. It would've been funny if it wasn't for the crushing disappointment in his eyes. I ducked my head and avoided his gaze.

"Sorry Mr. Hebert, didn't mean to wake you." I whispered, and rushed to the guest room before he could respond.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

It took all my self restraint not to slam my head repeatedly against the bedroom wall. What part of 'leave the adorable father and daughter alone' had been so hard to understand!? There wasn't anything hard to understand, I knew. On some level, seeing those two happy together had reminded me of my own happier times. Three years later, and thinking about home, thinking about _father_, still hurt in a way that words could never describe. Truthfully, I had just wanted to make things a little nicer for them. Instead, I just made things incredibly awkward, as I too often seemed to do. At least that was one universal constant.

Though, I had to wonder, who was Annette? Well, obviously she was someone important to Danny, his wife perhaps? Taylor hadn't talked too much about her mother, but given that I had seen neither hide nor hair of the woman, the possibilities were far from good. Which was just what I needed, guilt piled atop the awkward.

I was shaken from these thoughts by a knock on the guest room door. A scan with my x-ray vision confirmed that it was Danny. I briefly toyed with the idea of pretending I was asleep, and discarded it. Better that I face the consequences of our brief interaction then wait it out and let things get even more awkward.

The door creaked when I opened it, and in the silence of the house, it made me wince. I scratched the back of my head and didn't quite make eye contact with him as I said, "Danny, sorry about…"

"No, I'm sorry Linda," he interrupted, and added, "Can I come in to talk?"

I glanced past him toward the living room. "I put Taylor to bed. She sleeps like a log once you get her there."

That would explain the grumpy mornings. I opened the door wider and gestured for him to come inside, and closed it behind him. Danny took off his glasses and rubbed the lenses with the edge of his shirt. He looked back at me as he did; the bags under his eyes were deep and heavy. I felt exhausted just looking at them.

Danny sighed, "Damn it, we're both adults here. Look, I didn't mean to say that Linda. It's just… old memories."

I shrugged, and looked up at the ceiling, "I get it, I do. Sorry I woke you up, the two of you looked cold."

He nodded and replaced his glasses, taking a deep breath as he did, "Okay, good, good. I… just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page."

"Yup!" I agreed, "Totally the same page."

Awkward silence.

Blast it.

I scuffed the carpet with the heel of my shoe, and pulled my gaze from the ceiling. "Annette was someone close to you, wasn't she?"

Danny smiled sadly, and sat down on the edge of the bed, "She is… was my wife. Taylor's mother. She passed away a year before Taylor started high school, and… things haven't been the same between us since."

I didn't pry; reliving memories like this hurt, I knew. The memory of the ones you loved, all their flaws and all their greatness, and then coming to the realization that they're gone. Nothing you do, no matter how much you remember them, no matter what you do to honor them, will bring them back. In the end, they are gone from your life, and the only sign they ever existed are the memories and possessions they left behind; and sometimes you weren't even blessed to have those. It was a very bitter pill to swallow. Especially in the fuzzy half-awake state of temporary confusion.

Danny ran a hand over his face, "God, I was so pathetic after. She was my anchor, and without her I was adrift. I never even considered how much it would hurt Taylor, how much she would…"

I hugged him. I don't think he was expecting it, he went stiff and held his breath like he was afraid I was going to break him. When I didn't, he relaxed a little, and I loosened my hug.

"No more of that." I whispered.

Releasing him, I sat on the bed beside him. "Danny, I don't know you well, I'll say that flat out. But, I will say that regardless of that, you _aren't _pathetic. Not for mourning."

A flash of anger in his eyes, and his face twitched, "You say that after knowing what happened to Taylor? After what I let my daughter go through, _alone_ for almost two years!?"

"We're only human." I replied with a shrug. "We all make mistakes. The question you need to ask yourself, Daniel Hebert, is what will you do now. The past is set in stone, the future is unseen, but we are defined by our actions in the now."

The anger subsided, I cautiously reached out and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. He smiled weakly, "Easy to say, harder to do."

"But nothing worth doing is ever easy." I replied.

There it was, a flash of resolve in those large eyes of his. He straightened up slightly and wiped at some dampness on his face. "Linda, I meant what I said the other day. You'll always be welcome in this house. Thank you."

I shrugged with a smile, "I'm a superhero, helping people is what I do. Now out, I have to get changed."

* * *

My morning was eerily similar to the previous. I did my morning jog, helped around the neighborhood, and then sunbathed on the roof until the Heberts were up and about. Breakfast was a bit quieter than yesterday, but Danny seemed in better spirits. Taylor was rapt with awe as I told her about my brawl with Hookwolf.

Unfortunately, I had to leave early that morning, and Taylor would be alone most of the day. She seemed to accept it, but she was terrible at hiding her emotions; or I was particularly good at picking up on them, one or the other. I decided I'd make it up to her when I got back, and wondered how she felt about ice cream. Probably pretty good, everyone loves ice cream.

I made it to PRT HQ without any issue, and headed straight for the PR Department. The details of my lessons aren't important, really. Ultimately, I spent an hour being lectured on the news studios to avoid and which ones I was cleared to talk with. Also, I was given a copy of the standard operating guide for Protectorate members; apparently, Assault and Battery were supposed to give me a copy yesterday, but it had conveniently slipped their minds.

Whatever, it was a quick read (for me) and I tossed it in the recycling bin on my way to the costuming department. That was where the real fun could begin. When I'd dropped off our designs yesterday, I hadn't had time to really go over any of them with the people that worked there, and was more than a little eager to see what they thought.

The head of costuming wasn't quite what you would expect from a fashion designer. His name was Arnold Adams and he was a tall, heavily built man, dark skin, deep voice, and long dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail. Plain casual business wear made up his clothing, and a set of square fashionable spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose.

The costume department was on the second floor, divided into three main sections: offices, the showroom, and the workshop. Arnold met me in the showroom, which was long and spacious with soft LED lights and paneled flooring. A set of changing rooms were at the opposite end of the entrance, and several mannequins with costumes hanging from them had been wheeled out around one of four dais.

Arnold met me at the one nearest to the entrance, and shook my hand when I entered "Supergirl, I presume? I'm Arnold Adams, you can call me Arnold or Mr. Adams, whichever you're more comfortable with." he said in that rumbling voice of his.

I smiled, "Okay, I was told you had costumes for me Arnold. Can I see them?"

He gestured at the mannequins, "After debate with the rest of the team, we decided that these four would do to start with. Measurements should be exact, we keep a full body scanner at the showroom entrance; tinkertech, it saves far more time than you'd think."

It was a relief to see that they had indeed, at the very least, taken inspiration from the sketches that Taylor and I had come up with. Personally, I liked the designs we'd devised, and would've been a little disappointed if they had disregarded them. With all that said, there was a universal theme amongst them that I noticed, that made me scrunch up my nose.

"They look good Arnold, but… where's the cape?"

Arnold's eye twitched and he readjusted his glasses, "Unofficial policy for the Brockton Bay ENE dress code; no capes."

I stared at him, then at the mannequins and then at him again. "Okay, but I want - no, I need a cape with my costume."

"They're impractical and can represent a danger to the wearer." Arnold said simply.

I put my hands on my hips, "Okay, but I want one, and I have super strength. If the cape doesn't break before I do, then I would agree. Also, I want a cape."

"You already said that."

"Only because it's true."

"You don't need a cape."

I folded my arms and glared up at the man, though I did make sure I was smiling as I did. Maybe I was acting a little childish, but the cape was more than just a fashion statement. My original outfit, which had been destroyed long before I had the chance to outgrow it, had been designed by Kal as a mirror of his own. He wanted the world to know that I was apart of his family, that he wasn't ashamed to share his legacy with me. Kal thought I was worthy of following in his footsteps, and the cape had likely been the clearest cut sign of this.

It wasn't just a cape, it had been repurposed from the blanket he'd been swaddled away in when Jor-El sent him away from Krypton. When Kal began his career as Superman, he'd converted the blanket, which was made of material far stronger than earth fabrics, into his first cape as a reminder of his heritage. In a way, he had added a new legacy to it with that action, and the gesture hadn't been lost on me when he'd passed on the cape. Again, the original cape was long since gone, Darkseid had destroyed it during one of his invasions of Earth, but it had set a tradition.

"I won't budge on this; if you want to play this game Arnold, go for it, but I'm not walking out of this room without a cape." I told the man.

Arnold fixed me with a glare of his own, his lips twitching up, "Put your money where your mouth is, we'll see who breaks first."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I walked out of the showroom in my new costume, my lovely red cape billowing behind me as I walked. This new costume shared a pretty similar design to my old one's top, dark blue long sleeved shirt with the crest of my house proudly on display. The sleeves ended in a pair of golden bracers, and the seams were lined with a deep red thread. Instead of the skirt I usually wore, wore a matching set of dark blue leggings and knee high red boots. The cape itself actually had a fancy golden trim along its edge, and a copy of the El crest emblazoned on it. The entire ensemble was made of a light kevlar mesh and would be provided minor protection if my powers ever failed. They wouldn't, but I appreciated the thought nonetheless.

I had replaced the cosmetic golden belt they'd provided with the old belt from my costume, and stopped at the armory to gear up for the day. Containment foam grenade, check, zip ties, check, ear bud, check. Satisfied, I made my way to the roof where I knew my new partner for the day would be waiting for me.

Dauntless was just slightly over average height, putting him at about eye level with me. He was clad in golden armor that was clearly greco-roman inspired. Cuirass, tassels, and a corinthian style helmet. He wore a mask underneath the helmet, and his arms and legs were covered, giving him the appearance of an ancient marble statue brought to life. I noted that bits of energy crackled around his boots and the spear in his hand; even his shield had a faint shimmer to it.

We shook hands and he looked me up and down, "The boys in the costume department work fast. How's the costume, Supergirl?" he had a smooth voice, I noticed, very calm and pleasant.

I rolled my shoulders, "A little stiff, but I'll break it in. Get tossed through a few cars and it should feel just like the old one."

He chuckled, "Let's not put that to the test quite yet, agreed?"

I nodded and looked out over the building's edge, "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Southern route, you and I will be covering the downtown coast primarily. If things go well, we'll head inland and then call it a night."

I looked over at him, brow raised, "And do you think it will go well?"

He returned my look and I could hear the smile in his voice, "I think, after the ruckus you've been stirring up, it's either going to be a very boring patrol, or a very exciting one. Things in Brockton are never half done."

"I hadn't noticed." I chuckled, and gestured forward, "Lead the way then."

To my chagrin, dauntless lifted off the ground into the air and took off across the rooftops at a leisurely place. I couldn't help but fume a little bit: That just wasn't fair!

I caught up to him easily, and we raced each other across the roofs. He had the advantage of being able to ignore any ground based obstacles, but I was easily able to keep pace with in spite of them. I of course kept an ear open as we raced, but also tried to enjoy it for what it was.

As my powers returned, I knew I would be spending more and more time on patrol. Not from Piggot or Armsmaster assigning me more, but from my own desire to do good. I couldn't operate 24/7, I had tried that on several occasions and the resulting burnout was never pleasant to deal with. It was a quick and painful lesson I had eventually learned; don't take your downtime for granted.

It probably helped that, for the first time since I had arrived, Brockton Bay was quiet. Well, not quiet exactly, but I distinctly noticed a lack of explicit violence like I had when I first arrived. Like Dauntless had said, taking down Hookwolf had stunned the criminal community into silence, at least for a few days. I made a note that I'd have to take advantage of the silence, and start pushing harder on them. Give an inch, and a gang would take a mile, as Batman was so fond of saying.

We made it to the coast with almost no incident. There was a case where we interrupted a pair of independent car thieves, but aside from that… nothing.

Dauntless settled on an old pier, half rotten from age and disuse. I landed next to him and looked out over the ocean. It would've been a wonderful view of the ocean and Brockton, were it not for the boat graveyard. I'd seen it a few times in passing, but the graveyard of ships was painfully apparent now. Dozens if not hundreds of abandoned hulks, many of them grounded on the coast, all of them slowly rusting and wasting away, spilling their contents into the bay.

"Someone needs to do something about that." I murmured.

Dauntless looked at me, "What was that?"

I shook my head, "Just thinking out loud. You look annoyed; disappointed we haven't run into any thugs?"

"Honestly?" he asked. "Yeah. It's frustrating; every time we start making headway, everyone goes to ground. We run around trying to find them so we can keep up the pressure. Meanwhile, the city lets out a sigh of relief and lets its guard down, and then the criminals typically unveil some new unseen weapon in their arsenal, or a piece of intel they somehow managed to steal from us, and either cause even more damage than what would've happened if we had done nothing, or restore the status quo."

He shook his head. I bit my lip and looked back toward the city. Before I could say anything, I noticed a rapidly approaching figure in the air. I nudged Dauntless and said under my breath, "We've got incoming."

Following my gaze, Dauntless shook out his left hand, and a pulse of white energy expanded from it and surrounded him. His spear did the same, elongating until it was about six feet long and crackling like thunder. I stepped the to the side and folded my arms, watching the approaching figure.

With my telescopic vision I was able to get a closer look at them, and immediately lowered my guard; "Non-threat Dauntless, we're good."

He glanced at me, and I tapped the side of my head. That recieved a groan from the man and he let his shield and spear drop while our mystery woman drew closer.

"Hello down there!" she shouted, briefly circling us before slowly touching down at the edge of the pier. She was a tall young woman, a year or so younger than me, about Taylor's height. Her hair was platinum blonde, and she wore a white minidress that ended mid thigh with a pair of high white boots and a golden tiara. An over the shoulder cape completed the getup, and she smiled at us, hands on her hips.

Her smile faltered slightly when she saw me and I didn't blame her. A bystander could easily have mistaken her for my younger sister, we looked so alike; my skin was a few shades darker than hers, but aside from that, I was a little unnerved by all the similarities. Same hair color, eye color, even the same general theme with our costumes. Well, with her current costume and my old costume anyway, and I'd never be caught dead wearing a tiara in public.

The smile returned as recognition flashed in her eyes, "So, you're the Supergirl I've heard so much about. Name's Glory Girl."

"Doesn't New Wave typically operate around the Boardwalk and northern docks?" Dauntless asked bluntly. He didn't make much of an attempt to hide his annoyance. "Also, aren't you supposed to be at Arcadia right now?"

Glory Girl jerked a thumb back the way she came, "Emergency hospital call, my sister needed a lift, I'm running patrols in the meantime."

"Is she okay?" I asked. For someone with a sibling in the hospital, she was remarkably calm about it.

For a moment, she looked at me with an arched brow, and then she grinned, "Right, amnesiac. My sister's Panacea; greatest healer the world's ever seen."

Oh, that was right! I had read briefly about Panacea and New Wave, but my main focus had been on the Protectorate and the villainous capes. Apparently, Panacea could heal about any physical injury with just a touch, and as a result, her services were in high demand. She was also, from what I gathered, only fifteen years old. I didn't envy her position; it was one thing to operate on the streets and fight crime and it was another entirely to work in a hospital. At least in the streets, there could be lulls between the action: Hospitals were a never-ending war, with all manner of problems small to large.

Glory Girl floated into the air and over the pier towards me, cocking her head to the side as she did, "So, question. Are you like, some sort of alternate version of me? Because seriously, this is way uncanny."

"It's just a coincidence," I told her, which was technically true.

"Hm, hm." She said, and like a switch had been flipped, immediately moved to another topic, "Right, so I heard about your little bust with Hookwolf, and I saw the two of you running around on the roofs, and so I thought 'hey, maybe they're down for a team up' or something like that. So what do ya say?"

I looked at Dauntless, who was massaging the side of his helmet. When he saw me looking at him, he sighed and stepped forward, "We only just started patrol about half an hour ago. Did you see any suspicious activity when you were tailing us?"

Glory Girl pointed up the cost, "Oh definitely. Think I saw some Merchants up north. Couldn't be E88 or ABB, there were black, white, and asian people running around. Most of them looked half drugged out of their minds, so…"

Another sigh from Dauntless, and he lifted into the air, "Good enough for now. You've got your team up, Glory Girl. Fill us in on the way there."

She pumped her fist, "Yes!" and did a little victory dance. "Alright, follow me, this way!"

Great Rao, was I ever like that?

**A/N: Expect many costume changes in the future for Kara, it wouldn't be Supergirl if she didn't have fifty different costumes in her closet to choose from! This chapter ranged from 'wow that was amazing to write' to 'ugh god, make it stop!' and I think that's pretty clear at some points. Relatively short, due to my own laziness, but I think its a bit more cut and dry here. In general this arc is frustrating for me because its mostly just all setups. I'm setting up plot points, setting up characters, setting up interactions and dynamics. These are all incredibly important components of a story, and I do believe its important to write them. But at the same time I also just wanna have Kara punch Kaiser into orbit.  
**

**Rant aside, Please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Next chapter is... gonna be interesting. The one after that is one I've been looking forward to, but the less said about that, the better. See you all next Friday, bye!**


	12. Chapter 9

**Orientation 2.5**

_Kara Zor-El_

Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl.

When I had read up on New Wave, Glory Girl was one of the more often talked-about members, along with her sister Panacea. What people had to say about the former was far from flattering. The general consensus seemed to be that Glory Girl meant well and was a nice enough person, but she was reckless and hot headed, with a tendency to cause as many problems as she solved. This obviously didn't help New Wave's image, and as a whole, most of the city considered the group to be a well meaning but hopelessly idealistic.

As a whole, I felt ambivalent about them; their goal of having heroes be held accountable for their actions was noble. The idea that they should operate without secret identities was conflicting. On the one hand, I operated in an odd grey area when it came to secret identities. When I went out as Supergirl, I was also going out as myself, as Kara Zor-El; when I needed a break from the heroics, Linda Danvers was the mask I wore to do it. A secret identity was necessary if only to provide the hero with a way to cope with the stressful life of day to day heroics; that didn't mean we were immune to the consequences of the law. Like I said, I was conflicted on the subject.

Now that I had met Glory Girl in person, I could definitely see where her reputation came from. She was very nice, and full of energy on a level that actually surprised me. She also had no patience and made no effort to hide that she was annoyed that she and Dauntless had to wait for me to catch up. Sure I was probably faster than her on foot, but she could bypass any obstacle on the roofs while I had to be a little more gentle to avoid causing unnecessary damage.

"I could carry you ya know." she offered to me.

Oh Rao.

I swear I could hear Barbara laughing at me from across dimensions as my face flushed. "I'm fine, Glory Girl, but thank you."

She shrugged, "Suit yourself, don't blame me if they're gone by the time we get there."

Okay, lack of tact, add that to the list of traits. I didn't let her get under my skin; instead, I decided to jump a city block or two, leaving her in the dust. I may or may not have smiled a little at the sputter of indignation that came from her.

Thankfully, it wasn't too far a trip to the drug den she'd told us about, half a dozen blocks north from where we had been patrolling. It was an old parking lot overshadowed by yet more run down buildings. Most of them were smaller apartment complexes or hole in the wall stores that either had been or were in the process of being driven out of business. A dozen or so men and women, most of them looking very unhealthy, loitered in the lot and around their dingy cars. One of the vehicles was notably nicer and cleaner than the others, and a quick scan of my x-ray vision confirmed my suspicions. This was definitely a drug den of some kind.

Dauntless and Glory Girl landed behind me and moved up beside me. "See? Just like I said." she proclaimed proudly.

"Shh." Dauntless replied, holding a finger to his helmet. "Let's make sure we have a full stock of the situation before we jump in. These look like Merchants; they don't have too many capes, but the last thing we need is to be caught flat footed."

Glory Girl rolled her eyes, "Please, Skidmark and Squealer? I could take them both easy."

"I'm sure you could, but better safe than sorry." Dauntless snapped.

He ignored Glory Girl's grumbling and turned to me, "You've got the crazy eyes, see anything?"

I nodded, "Twelve people, none of them armed beyond pocket knives and baseball bats. Definitely a drug deal of some kind. There are squatters in the buildings surrounding them, but they're not wearing any gang colors, so they're probably not affiliated with them."

I glanced at him nervously, "Should we call this in? I don't need another office visit with the director."

Glory Girl groaned, "Come on, really? They're right there. Let's nab them, bag them, and then you guys can call it in."

Dauntless shook his head and ignored her, "I'll call it in, then we'll jump -Glory Girl, no!"

We both turned in time to see her take off from the roof and shoot high over head. The probably-not-but-maybe-so gang members paused what they were doing and looked skyward. A few pointed and muttered their confusion, the more coherent of them cursed and started running.

"God damn it!" Dauntless cursed, removing his spear from his back. "Supergirl, keep her under control, I'm calling this in."

"Right!" I said. I jumped down to the lot right as Glory Girl stuck a perfect three-point landing, sending cracks through the pavement and dragging everyone's eyes towards her.

There was a pause, a moment of silence, and then someone yelled and they scattered. "Oh no you don't!" Glory Girl shot after one of them, a tall, thin man that ran straight for the car loaded with drugs. The dealer was the obvious guess.

Meanwhile, I rushed around the lot, grabbing each potential druggie, and dropping them in the center of the lot, hands and legs bound. A few of them tried cursing at me, but the rest stared at me with wide eyes, thoroughly cowed. Apparently my reputation was already starting to spread; one look at my chest and they were speechless.

I had just dropped the last one in a circle when Dauntless flew overhead past me toward the car. One look and I saw why he was heading there; Glory Girl had pinned the dealer to the wall, and the guy was yelling in obvious pain.

Oh no.

"Glory Girl, what did you do?" Dauntless demanded.

She immediately released the man with her hands raised in a gesture of surrender, letting him fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. He slumped against the wall, cradling his left arm and breathing hard through his teeth.

"He was getting away, I had to stop him before he did." She said simply.

I quickly scanned the man and frowned, "Broken collarbone, cracked ribs. If you'd hit him any harder you might've broken his back."

Dauntless crouched next to the man and started applying some basic first aid. While he did, the dealer looked up at Glory Girl and hissed through his teeth, "You stupid bitch... you ruined everything."

"Yeah yeah, save the monologue for the cops." she said flippantly. I was about to call her out for acting that way towards someone she hurt, when the dealer interrupted me.

_"I am a cop!"_ the man shrieked.

Glory Girl and I froze. A sinking feeling formed in my stomach and I looked at Dauntless. He nodded, "I confirmed it with Central. This was an undercover op. The contraband is lined with trackers. Sell it to the buyers, let them take it back to their hideouts and lead us straight to them."

He didn't glare at Glory Girl when he explained this, but I think that was only because no one could make out his face behind his helmet. Glory Girl had suddenly become very interested in the ground, while the buyers I rounded up started yelling at each other.

"Damn it Kevin, you dumbass! You said this guy was clean!"

"He is clean! Look at how clean he is!"

"God dammit Kevin!"

Glory Girl looked from them, to the injured cop and then to me. The expression on her face was very familiar; the look of a kid in way over their head and realizing just how badly they managed to mess up in such a short period of time. I felt an eerie sense of deja vu and shook it off.

Dauntless had returned to dressing the cop's wounds when I crouched next to him, "Anything I can do to help?"

He shrugged, "Call Central, and keep Glory Girl from leaving. We'll need cops for the buyers, an ambulance for Officer Dan here, and PRT Troopers for Glory Girl."

"Wait, what?" the girl yelped. All the color had drained from her face now, and her eyes were the size of dinner plates.

I looked at her, then back to Dauntless and nodded, "I'll handle it. Come on Glory Girl, come with me."

"Look, it was just an accident, I didn't mean to hurt him!" she started, while I gently but firmly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her aside to sit on the roof of one of the parked cars. She tried to resist at first, probably out of instinct, but after I literally drug her several feet through the asphalt, she realized it was pointless, and let me guide her.

Once she was seated, I said, "Sit here for now, we'll figure out what to do with you once everything else is handled, understood?"

She nodded mutely and made no move to. I activated my communicator and phoned back to HQ, "Central, this is Supergirl. We have twelve arrests, and an injured undercover officer. We're going to need BPD and an ambulance. Oh, and a PRT detachment."

"Roger that Supergirl, was there an engagement with a cape?" Central asked.

I glanced at Glory Girl, who didn't meet my eyes. I sighed, this wasn't going to be a fun day. "Yes. Glory Girl injured an undercover cop, name of Officer Daniel."

Cursing came from the other end, then, "Thank you Supergirl. Please make sure Glory Girl doesn't leave, we'll have your backup there in five."

Backup showed up in three minutes, pulling into and surrounding the lot. While the BPD started dragging the buyers into the transport truck, I offered my hand to Glory Girl and gestured towards the PRT van. She stood up and walked past me, eyes downcast.

A PRT Officer was standing at the back of the van with a pair of very large steel cuffs held open. Glory Girl stopped, and glared at them, "Are you serious right now?"

"Standard operating procedure ma'am. I don't make the rules, I just follow them." the officer replied.

I interrupted before Glory Girl could retort. "Those won't be necessary Officer."

The officer's face was hidden by the shiny riot helmet he wore, but I could feel the unamused expression on his face. "Ma'am, I know you're new here, so with all due respect, protocol is protocol."

I gestured at Glory Girl, "She's a kid officer. She made a mistake, and she's going to pay for it. But she's not a violent monster that needs to be locked up either. If it makes you feel better, I can ride along and keep an eye on her."

He sighed, threw a hand into the air and marched back to the front of the van, "Sure fine, whatever. Not like protocol exists for a reason or anything. Fucking capes, I swear to god…"

Ignoring him, I looked at the inside of the van and turned back to Glory Girl, gesturing for her to get in. "Come on. Sooner you're in, the sooner this is over."

After a moment's hesitation, she sighed and pulled herself in and sat down. Then she covered her face with her hands and let out a long suffering moan. I sympathized with her as I got in after her and pulled the door shut. Regardless of the outcome, today was not going to be pleasant. For her, for me, or for anyone else.

* * *

The PRT Headquarters were a riot when we returned with Glory Girl in tow. All those in charge of its bureaucracy were well aware that this was the start of a political hurricane that anyone with a sane mind would want to stay well clear of. I didn't even need my super hearing to hear Piggot get into a yelling match over the phone with what had to be Glory Girl's parents. They would be understandably upset over their daughter being arrested.

Where was I during this debacle? Well, I went to the cafeteria and returned to the PRT holding cells with food for the unfortunate guest. The cells were tinkertech, not made by Armsmaster if I understood correctly, and were far stronger than what was used for normal criminals. While I could probably bust my way out, someone like Glory Girl would have a harder time.

It took a little convincing and guilt tripping to get the assigned guards to let me in, but they did eventually step aside and open the forcefield door. Glory Girl was pacing back and forth, her expression twisted between anger, worry, and anxiety.

I cleared my throat, and she finally seemed to notice me. I smiled and lifted the tray of food. "Hungry?"

Some of the worry and anger left her face and she sighed, "Always."

A sub sandwich and salad wasn't what I would call the most appetizing meals, but Glory Girl clearly had an appetite on her, and happily started devouring it when I handed the tray off to her. I folded my arms and leaned against the wall, letting her eat in relative peace. It was only when she had finished the sandwich and was moving on to her salad, that she remembered I was there, and paused.

She swallowed the last of her food and looked at me nervously, "How bad is it?"

I shrugged, "The director is on the edge of a heart attack at this point. Last I heard, she was calling your family. They'll probably be here within the hour, if I had to guess. I'd recommend getting your story straight before they do."

She covered her face with her hands and groaned as she slumped against the wall. "Damn it! How was I supposed to know he was a cop!?"

I raised a brow. "Can I ask you a question, Glory Girl?"

Her hands parted and she peaked at me with one eye, "Just call me Vicky, we're not in public. And sure, go for it I guess."

"Are you upset that you hurt that man, or are you only upset that the man you hurt wasn't a criminal?"

A heavy silence fell over her. She wisely didn't respond immediately, instead sitting back up and setting her tray aside with a gentle clack of metal on metal. She leaned forward, arms on her knees, and looked up at me with a blank expression.

Finally when she spoke, her tone was much more controlled, almost convincing even; if I wasn't able to hear the rapid panicked beating of her heart, I would've bought it. "I would never knowingly hurt an innocent. I'm not a villain."

I stared at her hard and narrowed my eyes, "Vicky, you realize that even if the man had turned out not to be an undercover police officer, you still would've been arrested, right? You broke a man's arm, a man who was at your mercy and literally could have done nothing to fight back."

Her face was pale but her expression hardened, "It. Was. An accident. If I had known he was a cop, I would have been more careful."

"But if he was a criminal, that would've made it okay?"

Silence was her answer, her eyes as big as dinner plates. I shook my head. "Try to think about what happened here, please. I'm going to talk with the director and see if you're going to get a lenient sentence for this."

That shook her from her stupor. "Wait, what? Why would you… why?"

I shrugged and moved to leave, "Everyone makes mistakes, Vicky, and I believe that everyone deserves a shot at making up for them. Yeah, you messed up, and you might've messed up for the wrong reasons. But, if you're willing to learn from your mistakes so you don't repeat them, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be given a chance to try."

I paused as the cell was opened and added, "Of course, whether the others will see it that way, is another matter entirely."

And with that, I left, leaving her sitting in her cell with a puzzled expression. I meant what I said of course. Vicky seemed like a kid with a good heart, and some funny ideas about how to use it. Though, I did have to wonder if today's incident was a one time thing, or if there had been others. The pragmatist in me suggested the latter while the idealist hoped for the former.

One thing was certain though, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

I hate it when I'm right.

Only Vicky's mother Carol Dallon (AKA Brandish) and her sister Sarah Pelham (AKA Lady Photon) had come to the PRT; apparently her father wasn't feeling well and Panacea was still busy at the hospital. I wasn't sure if that would've made a difference though, as once the two sisters had arrived, it had been a battle of wills between Carol and Director Piggot in her office. Dauntless and I had also been summoned, of course, but had mostly been relegated to the sidelines while the two had yelled at each other, with Sarah being the only voice of reason.

At the very least, it was easy to see where Vicky had gotten her stubborn impulsiveness from. Dauntless sat beside me while they talked, arms folded and back straight. I had to give the man credit, he was very good at hiding his emotions. I had given up trying to appear professional half an hour into the two women throwing faux threat's at one another, and was slumped forward, arms on my knees and growing more annoyed by the minute.

So far all that had been accomplished was that both women were able to establish their verbal fencing skills. Passive aggressive insults, threats against one another's organizations in the form of withdrawing support, etc. It was obvious that neither woman cared for each other, and the arrest of Carol's daughter had done nothing to help her mood.

My face scrunched with annoyance as another round started up. "Mrs. Dallon, if you're going to insist that your daughter struggles to keep her powers under control, then why on God's Green Earth would you ever let her go out on patrol, let alone use them against unpowered criminals?" I had never heard such venom from Piggot before, though admittedly I hadn't been at the PRT for long; I shuddered at the thought of being subjected to a verbal lashing from the woman.

Carol sneered, "Slight power problems aren't unheard of, even for veterans, Director. The fact of the matter is, we at New Wave were completely unaware of any undercover operations in that section of the city. My daughter may have acted impulsively, but she was well within her rights to act on potential criminal activity."

"Like hell. According to our reports, the only 'probable cause', if you want to call it that, that your daughter had, was loitering. Regardless of the criminal activity, your daughter's use of force was excessive."

Before Carol could respond, Dauntless, of all people interrupted them. "That is enough! From both of you!"

Both women froze and looked at the armored hero, Carol in surprise as if she'd forgotten we were here, and Piggot with outrage at being yelled at by a 'subordinate'. Dauntless let out a sigh. "We're arguing in circles here. Let's take a step back and lay out the facts, shall we?"

They had the decency to at least look sheepish, and Carol eased back into her seat. Dauntless's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you. Now, Carol; I have an audio recording of the event as it went down. Armsmaster suggested to me a while back I should keep a mic on me when I go out just in case something like this happened. I can give you a copy if you want so you can know exactly how it went down, but to summarize it: Glory Girl approached Supergirl and I with a potential lead. The loiterers were wearing Merchant gang colors, and the BBPD is processing their records even as we speak. When we arrived, Supergirl and I both advised Glory Girl to wait while we contacted Central and formulated a plan. The simple fact is, your daughter did charge in and did in fact hurt a police officer in the process. Arguing won't change what happened."

He looked from Piggot to Carol, his voice hard, "So, what we should be focused on, is what to do now, and how we can work together to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Sarah let out a relieved sigh, "Well said, Dauntless. I agree with him. What's done is done, Carol. Arguing won't change that. We founded New Wave on the principle of accountability for heroes. If one of us makes a mistake, then we have to own up to it, not try to brush it away."

I decided I liked Sarah.

Carol's expression softened, and she smiled faintly at her sister, "Of course, of course. Thank you Sarah, Dauntless. I apologize, Director Piggot. I thought I'd be ready to let my daughter go out and start handling things on her own, but… it's hard to do that as a parent."

Piggot sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yes, well. If we're ready to move on to the actual reason I called you here, we can put this all behind us."

"Of course," Carol nodded. "To start with, do we know if officer…?"

"Officer Daniel Clements." I informed her.

"Thank you. Do we know if Officer Clements has decided to press charges?"

Piggot shook her head, "While his response was… colorful, he won't press charges. The BPD on the other hand, is hungry for blood. They'll be willing to compromise and avoid charges, but only on a few conditions."

Carol forced a smile, "And those are?"

Piggot counted from her fingers. "First, they want priority access to Panacea for their officers. Second, they want Glory Girl to undergo procedural training. Third, they want her under Protectorate Probation for at least the next month. Considering the months of resources and work they put into this operation, it's about as fair a bargain as you could hope for."

Sarah and Carol exchanged a look. Carol was hard to read, but Sarah seemed noticeably concerned. When they turned back to the director, Carol said, "I'll talk with my daughter, but she'll likely be more than happy to help. We'll need to work out a schedule for the training. Is it not possible to keep Victoria under New Wave's watch during the probation?"

Piggot's shook her head. "No. New Wave is an affiliate of the Protectorate, but the police don't trust you to remain unbiased in this matter. You're all family after all, as far as they're concerned, you'd be more lenient about violations your daughter might commit."

I heard Dauntless snort under his breath, "Oh yeah, and the cops are paragons of virtue when it comes to bias."

I nudged him, and tried not to smile. Then I finally spoke up. "Director, if I may?"

All eyes turned to me. Piggot raised a brow and steepled her fingers; I swear a smile formed on her face, though I couldn't tell if it was amused or devious. "Yes, Supergirl. You have something to add?"

I nodded, "I've talked with Glory Girl, and I think I have a decent understanding of her approach to crime fighting. I know I'm still new, but I'd be more than willing to offer to act as her probation officer. And if possible, I could offer her courses on power management, because if I'm completely honest, it's clear that her training isn't… the most extensive."

Sarah winced, and Carol was glaring daggers at me when I said that. "We've made a very concentrated effort to train Victoria the best we can, Supergirl. Is there something wrong with our methods?"

I folded my hands in my lap and met her glare head on. Dauntless chuckled, and I ignored him. "Frankly, yes. I'm not sure how or why, but it's clear to me that Glory Girl assigns less value to the welfare of criminals than she does to those she deems 'innocent'. Combine that with her powerset and it's a surprise that what happened today hasn't happened sooner."

At that, Carol frowned, "Victoria has had trouble in the past with her powers, but she would've come to us if she'd hurt anyone in the process. Even a criminal."

Well, that answered that question.

I shrugged though, and said, "It's just an observation. At her heart, I think Glory Girl is a good person. She wants to help others however she can, which is absolutely the most important part of being a superhero. But what she did today was also inexcusable; the power we are burdened with is a tool, and just like any tool, it has to be wielded responsibly. Brockton Bay already has plenty of metahumans that don't. You might get angry at me for saying that about your daughter, but would you honestly be able to look her in the eye if she'd crippled or killed that man? Justice might be blind ma'am, but common sense isn't."

Oh yeah, Carol and I weren't going to be friends. She hid it well, but I could see a few flickers of fire burning in her eyes. Ultimately though, I meant what I said. Whether she approved or not, I wanted to help Victoria become the hero she could be.

Piggot clapped her hands together, interrupting our thoughts, "Well said Supergirl. Thank you for volunteering. I think it's a wonderful idea."

"Agreed." Sarah said, gently touching her sister's arm. Carol shook her head and glanced at her. Some unspoken words passed between them, and the woman sank into her chair.

Sarah continued, "Letting Vicky work with other heroes outside of New Wave could be very good for her. Experience is the best teacher after all."

I slumped into my chair as she turned back to the director and all three women started to discuss schedules, court dates, and so on. My mind was on the challenge I had set up for myself. Not for the first time, I wondered if I was capable of handling it. Kal and I had helped new heroes before, but normally he was the one that took the leadership role while I was the 'punching bag' as they came into their own. Now I was taking on both roles at once.

Something nudged me and I looked up at Dauntless. He was still wearing his helmet, but I could hear the smile in his voice, "Nice of you to step up for the kid. Are you up for it?"

I smiled in what was hopefully a confident grin, "Yeah, of course, I've got this."

He nodded, "Well if you need help, lemme know. I could use a change of pace."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Well at the very least, I wasn't alone in my endeavor. Two heads had to be better than one, right?

* * *

**A/N: Hiatus is over! I needed a little break from Echoes, so I took October off. This chapter was a pain, but I'm ultimately happy with how it came out. Hope y'all enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review with your thoughts, and I'll see y'all Friday!**


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